Social Media and Governance in Africa

There is a debatable notion that nothing big and relevant happens in Africa without the influence of social media. While this assertion may not be absolutely correct, we are reminded of series of events that have unfolded mainly through and on social media platforms across the political, health, commercial and developmental landscape of the continent. 

Fresh on many minds is the role of social media in curtailing the spread of Ebola in the Western region of Africa, the widely-reported resignation of Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore on social media, the Occupy movement which trailed across the Northern and Western regions of the continent, amongst other citizen led campaigns driven almost solely first on social media platforms before taking root in the offline society.

Accordingly to recent statistics released by We Are Social  – a global digital outfit, Africa, has about 293million active internet users , and about 103million active social media users across the continent.  While the latter figure may seem very large, it only represents 9 percent of the continent’s over 1.1billion offline population.

This year, about fifteen African countries will be at the polls. Only last two weekends, Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, held its presidential and national parliamentary elections, and expectedly, social media played a remarkable role in defining and redefining the concept of politicking and campaigning in a digitalized world as political parties and aspirants had a good run for their money online.

Prior to the general elections, which saw the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the contest, several opinion polls were conducted on social media on the likelihood of whom will emerge Nigeria’s next president. 

Interestingly, about 70 percent of the polls reported that the General will most likely win. Today, General Buhari is the President-Elect. This is a testimonial that social media cannot be undervalued in any political contest or social context. To say the least, social media is here to stay!

The place of social media in Nigeria’s politics

Politics just as social media is a game of numbers. Nigeria has a huge population of young people constituting about 70 percent of the country’s average as well as the voting demography. Nigeria’s online population is also dominated by young people with varying degrees of interest, hence, to connect, engage and win young people, politicians saw the need to join the social media which is perceived to have an uninhibited communication process.

If anything, social media created an atmosphere of real-time communication flow, thus, allowing candidates to directly interact with voters and key influencers. In the Nigerian case study, we saw series of TweetChats, Hangouts, amongst other virtual events as audience engagement strategies. Whether or not the conversations were in most cases valid and successful remain an exploration for the nearest future.

The influence of social media on mainstream media is yet another reason political actors joined the social media conversation. In order to compete in a fast-paced media-based network of communities, journalists increasingly relied on political blogs, twitter conversations and various video and photo content as sources for their stories. Features such as iWitness reporting, citizens’ journalism on traditional media created a connection point for both the traditional and new media.

Comparatively, social media afforded stronger and better message delivery at relatively lower rates when compared to the cost of advertising on traditional media.

Given the extensive and multiplier effect of social media, there is no doubt that social media has clinched a formidable spot in nascent democracy and advancing politics and governance in Nigeria.

For one, I had a filled experience of virtual campaigning premised on interesting social media marketing ideologies. Tweetmeets, Hangouts, were the in thing within Nigeria’s online socio-political networks. Hashtags such as #MeetGEJ, #Febuhari, #MarchOutJonathan, #WhyIWillVoteGEJ, #MarchForBuhari, #GMB15, #LagosForYou, #iHaveDecided, were promoted by politicians and their supporters, while #NigeriaDecides, #Nigeria2015, #iPledgeToVote, #MyPVCNow #GoVote #VoteNotFight  #CourtNotStreet, were promoted by civil organisations to increase citizens’ awareness and participation in the electoral process.

Also worth noting is the idea of crowd funding via social media for political aspirants and their parties. This is indeed a trend to sustain and improve upon.

While social media allows multiple conversations of diverse focus at the same time, the Nigerian election has seen a shift in the level of discourse that has shaped the electioneering period. Through social media platforms, issues have come to the fore, though not explicitly ironed out; allegations and counter-allegations have been made, supporters of various political parties have probed various ideologies and campaign promises especially those of opposing parties whilst also making the conversations around the 2015 elections more engaging. 

These certainly provided a shift from what obtained during the 2011 polls.

Unfortunately, there were instances of inciting and hate speeches, which were not in the best interest of the country. In spite of the rapid growth of the social media space in Nigeria, anonymity is exploited and integrity not upheld therefore these gave room for the promotion of hate speech. In order to promote campaigns many faceless or anonymous handles were created littering the platforms with many profiles, which did not exist prior to the period in context. In some cases, real-time reportage suffered due to the promotion of half-truths and inaccurate information.

More worrisome was the coverage of election results and votes from polling units. These turned opposing individuals against one another in a rare display of intellectual arguments and numerical skills.

There is no gainsaying that the electioneering period has enhanced the financial base of most digital advertisers and many others involved in the value-chain of communicating and engaging the electorate in meaningful conversations online. From the marketer, to the publisher, writer, designer, et al, this electioneering era will sure be one to be remembered, if not for the financial benefits, at least for the experience and fun of the season.

A revolution is midway, social media has taken in the heart of Nigeria and Africa’s political and electioneering processes – all interested parties need to get rightly positioned.

The Power Of Networks

In recent times, the Internet has profoundly altered business operations across the globe more than ever in the history of mankind, making the art of social networking the next gale that will blow us forward.

Today, a generation of online tribes, cliques, communities, social spheres, lists, groups and circles, amongst others, describe and define online networks of interest and following.

As people connect with one another on Instagram in South Africa, others are navigating Facebook in Nigeria. Daily, large numbers of Africans and, indeed, the world are logging into thousands and perhaps millions of social networking platforms.

Social networks are predominately redefining our personal and business relationships with the world around us. From music to marketing, consulting to fashion, creative to communications, and education to engineering, there are available networks for every individual and professional to establish, join and develop for personal influence and brand benefits.

Human beings do not exist in isolation; they operate in circles of interests and relationships which, when virtual, can be referred to as networks. Networks exist both in business and social interactions, thereby making possible new avenues for insight and information sharing.

A network affords individuals and brands the opportunity to maintain stronger relationship with other individuals and brands of connected interest. It sets you up on knowing your customers and competitors, gives you the foresight to think, plan and execute any network-focused agenda while leveraging virtual reality.

One more trend is obvious: more offline relationships and networks are now migrating online and brands, just like individuals should position themselves for these opportunities. As an Internet and social media user, building networks and harnessing their benefits should depend on the platform in consideration. For instance, a photographer may find Instagram a better platform to build more viable network due to the fact that photos are better appreciated on Instagram or Pinterest.

In the same vein, a writer may find Tumblr or Twitter more interesting due to the opportunity to create long- or short-form essay. While this sounds like good advice, the popularity, acceptance and prevalent use of a network in a particular country is to be considered. A photographer on Instagram in a country where Facebook records the highest users may make the best use of the platform but lose out on business opportunities because many potential clients and customers are on other platforms.

To build a network for your brand is, perhaps, one of the most productive ways to constantly create relevant market buzz about your products and services. Network building goes beyond executing a one-off marketing campaign to helping your brand through its life cycle. In order to achieve this, it is crucial to look before leaping.

This second check will help in carrying out quick checks on competing brands already playing in your network and desired platform. It also gives opportunity to map out individuals who will be interested in your brand and how best to reach them.

The best place to begin when building a network is among friends and family members. These individuals will support you and offer positive reviews (at no cost or need for incentive). Thereafter, tap into their networks to reach more people. Leveraging connections from these two groups is often a good way to strengthen connection ties for stronger penetration. With second-degree connections, the first hurdle is crossed successfully.

Creating a communication or engagement structure by being sociable is at the heart of building and maintaining a valuable online network. Think of the external activities of the organisation promoting the social being of the brand, where customers can get a shareable message on subscribing for a particular service, purchasing a product or enjoying a specific service as well as receiving shareable birthdays or wedding anniversary messages from the organisations you patronise. These random and often-ignored activities greatly expand visibility, reach and size of networks.

Most importantly, it is vital to remember at all times that advocates – and not members – grow networks. So, having over 2,000 new followers is not a guaranteed network builder. Focus should be on having a trusted, valued and engaging community of people. These advocates constitute the surest way to build a network.

According to a consumer peer-influence report by Nielsen Study, 90 per cent of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 33 per cent trust online ads. As a network manager, it is essential to find advocates for your brand and recruit new members to your social community aggressively, yet manually. Every new member is a potential community advocate if well engaged.

In growing a network, the concept of advocacy, as against influence(r), holds much value as influencers are paid for a one-off buzz, while advocates are life-long conscious ambassadors of the network or brand which, most times, comes without much financial constraints.

Hosting conversations on your social network is a sure way to engage, sustain and maintain your community of followers and advocates. Social conversations increase your network statistics, while positioning you as a thought leader and influencer within your industry.

You can embed social network feed widgets on your website to help visitors track activities on your social network without exiting your website. Tools such as Spot IM, Buffer and some browser extensions can help monitor and manage conversations on your social networks.

Giving back while giving a voice to your network members and advocates is crucial in winning them as well as winning with them. Create avenues for them to express their concerns and give back to them as a way of encouraging loyalty, support and partnership.

As with offline network creation and building, online networks require originality, conscious effort and creativity to win the time and treasure of potential members and advocates towards developing an empire of valuable individuals and brands for mutual excellence.

Networks are the most powerful characteristics of social media branding and profiling; therefore, build your networks deliberately.

In marketing campaign, clout could be deceptive

The Internet and social media provide the most impressive statistics about users. It is easy to get carried away by the figures and to dream of likes, follows and clicks when you are a regular user. Every brand visionary or social strategist thinks of opportunity the minute large numbers are mentioned.

The first thing to note is that the social media space – across all platforms – is a large interconnected network of individuals. Hence, the ‘social’ in the phenomenon called social media.

Just as observed in real life, people congregate in places that reflect common interests, associate with those who have similar values and bond with those they like.

It may, therefore, be a no-brainer not to notice that on every social media platform there are clouts. A clout refers to a circle of influence wielded by a personality or, in the case of virtual life, a profile or account. Clichés abound on the relevance and importance of clout and following in life. Every adult is sufficiently schooled on the importance of network in relation to friendships and character.

Many brands have followed this dogma hook, line and sinker; forgetting that business strategy should also consider reversing those thoughts.

A critical look at this implies that the peripheral overview of the strategy is to align brands with influencers – mostly celebrities – and trust their clout or influence to deliver attention, engagement and awareness for specific campaigns. This is where clout deception is revealed.

The concept of clout deception refers to the façade created largely by social media influencers who only have relative clout influence over a closed circle of networks.

The concept of social networks (which will be treated in subsequent articles) demystifies the impression that an account’s following or influence rating is all that is required to deliver campaign success. Clout deception is seen with brands that have adopted social media influencers as PR consultants or campaign drivers in order to deliver campaigns that otherwise should be wider and more pervasive in reach.

Look at this: An influencer of 500,000 followers may belong to more than two or three networks, such as brands, news/media and sports. In each of the networks, the actual clout power may be just average or even below average. While the overall clout counts, which is a different assessment from engagement, may be impressive, the capacity of the influencer to deliver the campaign is hampered due to the relatively low influence in each network.

This relationship explains the reason why much-anticipated campaigns fall flat, despite efforts to promote them. Clout deception happens daily on social media, just as the brand ambassadors often fail to deliver the needed results.

It is advisable for brands to consider both offline and online ambassadors for campaigns, while including influencers – who often do not have commensurate ‘star power’ to match the required attention. A clear delineation between being an ambassador and an influencer who only promotes a campaign should be made.

Increasingly, brands engage influencers to promote but expect activities of an ambassador and vice-versa leading to results that are far below expectations.

Clout deception is most experienced when influencers and their close circles ‘close trend’ a campaign, thus making it a trending topic albeit within closed circles.

For instance, while #thedress, #askhermore and #JeSuisCharlie trended globally, there was a thousand and more campaigns that trended locally yet delivered great results, though they made rounds in very few circles.

Brands must attempt to follow through their strategies by pinpointing campaigns such that they permeate many circles such as students, sports and professionals, not just a few circles.

The question any professional would ask is that the campaign strategy should have clear targets. And if these targets have been reached, it is expected that it will achieve an ‘agenda-setting’ objective.

This is mostly not the case because many other factors influence the capacity of a campaign to go viral.

According to Tai Tran, Social Media Marketing Manager, UC Berkerly/Haas School of Business, “Nobody actually knows what issue or campaign will go viral”.

It is important for brands to seek out and permeate a sea of opportunities in first-timers or newcomers on social media. The longer people exist (and actively too) on social media, the better they prioritise their attention, sieve through interests and cultivate preferences. Hence, rather than going after influencers and clout deception, reaching for ‘laggards’ according to Malcom Gladwell’s hierarchy of social adoption, costs much less and delivers greater results.

Another case in point is Ndani TV. With the seeming success recorded online, one should interrogate the essence for making the show an offline on television about two seasons after it commenced. The sheer reason of relatively poor Internet quality and paradox of Internet penetration may be obvious reasons that informed the need to maximise the investments made in delivering unique audiovisual content.

Is this strategy sustainable? Would a brand constantly go after new comers on social media to influence brand awareness and deliver campaigns? What happens to word-of-mouth and the seemingly large influence of influencers and celebrities on social media?

Remember, influencers exist to swing popular opinion largely from new comers.

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First published on iPunch

Nigerian Youth and Social Concern

The recent turn of events in Nigeria has largely exposed the composition, interest and uniqueness of the Nigerian youths. While some of these activities spurred the exhibition of incredible instant creativity, others have revealed the high disinterest of the Nigerian Youth populace in germane issues that are critical to their now and future. On the account of the supposed hilarious disposition and responses of the Lagos NSCDC Boss while on an interview on Channels Television, the Nigerian social media space has for over two weeks witnessed the buzz of #MyOgaAtTheTop, needless to highlight the chains of reactions being witnessed in the real world, where Video games, T-Shirt, Home Movie, Wrist Watch, all out on the credit of #MyOgaAtTheTop. These stream of spontaneous creative reaction from the youths is quite impressive, at least for sparking a huge sense of humour and relaxation in the ever heated Nigeria polity. While the social media space was agog with this trend, there came the news of the presidential pardon granted to some Nigerians who according to the recommendations of the National Council of State deserve the pardon-a development which has continued to amaze every right thinking Nigerian and its lovers in the diaspora. However, the focus of this engagement is not to analyze the presidential pardon but to situate the Nigerian youth in all these unfolding. In high expectation, I looked out for a swift shift from the hilarious and unproductive trend of #MyOgaAtTheTop to productive engagement of the government especially by the youths on the presidential support on corruption, the rising rate of insecurity in the country, massive unemployment in the face of government job creation claims, dwindling economic fortune, amongst other crucial issues to the existence and survival of the Nigerian Youth. But disappointedly, the Nigerian Youths saw no reason in engaging the powers that be. It is unfortunate, that the Nigerian Youth has found a comfortable corner in the feel good society such that he cannot think and act through on critical socioeconomic affairs that directly or indirectly affect him both now and in the future. He prefers to run his mouth on Facebook, Twitter, 2go, BBM...on frivolous and unproductive matters, rather than understand state policies, programmes and actions and engage the process even through the social media platform for nationalistic gains.  As a socially conscious Nigerian youth, I have come to realise how much I have paid and perhaps still paying for the mindless looting of public treasury by ex and serving public officials, high-level of corruption which has resulted in socioeconomic disaster, infrastructural deficit culminating in unnecessary lose of lives and properties, lack of basic social amenities, denial of a good today and the hope of a hopeless tomorrow. This is the unfortunate reality of our Nigerian society. I often wonder, why for so long the Nigerian Youth has not come to realise that the smallest of decisions made in Aso Rock or his immediate community will have a large impact on his pattern of existence and even those generations to come, that we, the almost 70% of the nation's population are always the worse hit of any unfavorable policy, yet we refuse to speak up when necessary, that the stolen public funds are meant to better his lives and those of his children, that the misappropriated money will impede our national development. That world over social transformations are driven by the youth, yet we are left out in planning and policies. That we hold the solution to this country's numerous challenges. Realisation brings about clarity of thought and direction. Until the Nigerian Youth realises that he bears the solution to the many challenges confronting this country, I am afraid, we will continually revolve in this circle of misdemeanor. A revolution of mind is key in changing our nation. You cannot change the world, until you change yourself. Values are a missing ingredient in this dispensation. We need young people of virtues and values, morality and competence, vision and excellence. Dear Nigeria Youth! We cannot attain any national success, except we get off the feel good society and face the reality that our great nation, Nigeria, is sinking off to an unredeemable point in the hands of the men of today perhaps yesterday, who are presenting us with a future packed with hopelessness, emptiness, shame and disgrace. YOU and I have a significant role to play. Be interested in social issues, because they affect all and sundry. Engage policies, programmes and actions. Join productive movements and discussions online and offline. Appreciate, promote and possess values and virtues. Be a patriotic citizen with the hope that our collective progressive efforts will produce a new, greater and better NIGERIA.

- ELEGBEDE TAYO JET      
  Twitter- @tayojet1