Abstract
Since the Arab Spring pro-democracy riots and upheavals that shook the Middle East and North African authoritarian regimes in 2010 and 2011 and the EndSARS protest against police brutality in Nigeria in 2020, the debate on the influence of social media in galvanizing youth to action has raged. The research was done to establish how social media has advanced the mobilization of youths for social-political change in sub-Saharan Africa in the last five years that countries in the region have witnessed successful general elections. Premised on the theoretical frameworks of media ecology and agenda-setting, the study explained how social media through improved affordable technology and democratization of media have aided and abetted the participation of young people in the transformation of society.
TopIntroduction
With the advent of the internet and technological innovations including its applications, social media have invaded homes and become a crucial part of man’s daily existence (Yan, 2021). Affordable internet services (data) and smartphones owned by the masses in sub-Saharan Africa, especially the youth, have encouraged the use of social media for all forms of communication and content production, and social-political mobilization. Defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary (2023) “as forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)” marketing and business promotions, social media applications including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, WeChat, blog. In 2023, the projected number of social media users worldwide was 4.89 billion while Africa has 384 million social media users with internet users put at 566 million (Statista, 2023).
Silver and Johnson (2018) wrote that in sub-Saharan Africa most people are gravitating toward social media for social activities over political, religious or commercial ones. In sub-Saharan Africa, most phone owners are use their devices to send text messages and take pictures or video; those who use social media (ranging from 43% in South Africa to 20% in Tanzania) share views on entertainment-related topics such as music, movies, and sports than they post about politics, religion or products they enjoy; they are more are likely to use their mobile devices for social and entertainment purposes than for information-seeking or career and commerce-related activities while around four-in-ten phone owners also use their mobile phones to access social networking sites (Silver and Johnson, 2018). The researchers stated that although mobile phones were responsible for most online presence in Africa, around 19 percent of the total population lived out of reach from mobile connection as of 2020.
However, Sasu (2022) noted that the use of social media increased in recent years, especially in Nigeria where it is deployed to follow friends, family, acquaintances, or actors and people in the art and entertainment industry, with WhatsApp being the most used platform in the country. As of the third quarter of 2021, this instant messaging and voice-over IP platform was used by 92 percent of Nigeria’s overall internet users ahead of Facebook and Instagram even though Facebook was the most preferred platform for the majority of individuals accessing the news on social media; men and youth are in the lead in social media usage in Nigeria (Sasu, 2022).
While in 2022, more than 58 percent of the users were men as was reflected across the various platforms. For instance, close to 59 percent of Nigerians on Facebook were men although overall Facebook usage was concentrated among individuals aged 18 – 34 years. The youth and male prevalence remain similar on other social network platforms such as Linkedin and Instagram. Consequently, young people in Nigeria were the most reached by social media advertising compared to people of other age groups (Sasu, 2022). As the Internet is needed for all social media connections, it plays vital roles in the development of social media in Nigeria. In 2020, smartphones and tablets were the most common devices from which the internet was accessed by around 84 percent of Internet users (Sasu, 2022).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Social media: Web-based communication tools that enable people to interact with each other by sharing and consuming information.
Digital Citizenship: The ability to navigate our digital environments in a way that's safe and responsible and to actively and respectfully engage in these spaces.
Sub-Saharan Africa: The term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara Desert. Geographically, the demarcation line is the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.
Activism: This refers to action taken challenging those in power to bring about change in society and benefit the greater good.
Social Disruption: A term used in sociology to describe the alteration, dysfunction or breakdown of social life, often in a community setting. Social disruption implies a radical transformation, in which the old certainties of modern society are falling away and something quite new is emerging.
Participatory Governance: A concept that emphasizes democratic engagement, especially through deliberative practices, between the actors of state and society. It is a subset of governance theory that aims to provide high-quality programs and services through the public’s collaborative efforts.
Democracy: A system of government in which state power is vested in the people or the general population of a state.
Social Media Influencers: Social media content creators with expertise in certain niches and who have gained popularity and trust among a growing audience of online followers.