CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Social media (Facebook and Twitter) have become an integral part of public discourse and communication in the contemporary society. The fast development of social media (Facebook and Twitter) has caused major changes pertaining the way people find groups of individuals with similar interests, the nature of information, the available news sources, or the possibility to require and share ideas (Stieglitz, Dang-Xuan, 2012). It has had major effects on fields such as advertising, public relations, communications, and political education (Husain et al, 2014). More recently, the prominence of social media (Facebook and Twitter) has been particularly highlighted in politics, given the fact that the use of social networking sites (Facebook) and microblogging services (Twitter) are believed to have the potential of positively influencing political participation (Stieglitz, Dang-Xuan, 2012). For instance, the 2011 Nigeria presidential elections remained in history for the unprecedented use of social media (Facebook and Twitter) platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube (Paletz et al., 2015). The use of social media (Facebook and Twitter) within the presidential campaign in 2008 was also continued and even amplified in the 2012 presidential campaign, when both Obama and Romney spent a considerable amount of money on social media (Facebook and Twitter) (in particular Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest), with the specific purpose of reaching the young generation. Potential voters extensively engaged in these social media (Facebook and Twitter) platforms by posting, commenting, video-sharing and even the mainstream media covered the social media (Facebook and Twitter) war between the two campaigns (Paletz et al., 2015: 276). Furthermore, social networking sites have been used to mobilise individuals to protest all over the world. Some examples are the London youth demonstrations of 2011, due to the high level of unemployment among young adults, the 2009 Iranian protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Carlisle and Patton, 2013: 883), or the Egyptian social movements augmented by Twitter and Facebook, when President Mubarak shut down the Internet for five days (Yang, 2013).
But does this engagement visible on social media (Facebook and Twitter) platforms have an impact on traditional forms of political participation? Various scholars interested in electoral campaigns, investigated the effects of new media use on political participation. Some researchers discovered that the Internet may encourage political participation (Bucy&Gregson, 2001; Corrado, 1996; Grossman, 1999; Johnson & Kaye, 2003; Shah et al., 2005; Whillock, 1997). In addition, some results have shown that the use of social networking sites, in particular, increased traditional offline engagement, such as voting (Bakker and de Vreese, 2011), donations and fundraising (Vitak et al, 2011). Conversely, other researchers have revealed that the use of social networking sites is not at all linked to higher levels of political participation (Baumgartner & Morris, 2010, Davis, 1999; Davis & Owen, 1998; Margolis &Resnick, 2000; Putnam, 2000). Hence, research findings concerning the effects of Facebook and Twitter use on political education are inconclusive, leaving space for additional exploration of this topic.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The use of emotional appeals in political campaigns to increase support for a candidate or decrease support for a challenger is a widely recognized practice and a common element of any campaign strategy (Brader, T. 2006). Campaigns often seek to instill positive emotions such as zeal and hopefulness about their candidate to improve turnout and political activism while seeking to raise fear and anxiety about the opposition. Zeal tends to reinforce preference for the candidate and party, while fear and anxiety interrupt voting patternal patterns and leads individual voters to look for new sources of information on divergent political issues (Marcus et al, 2000). Sources of information available to a voter vary widely including the traditional media, TV, radio and newspapers. However, with the advent of online social media (Facebook and Twitter) forum, most voters can access information, debate on the information and also give feedback on his own views, opinions and expectations from the party and candidate.
Although the social media (Facebook and Twitter) has helped in increasing the popularity of candidates and their parties, it has the capacity to make or mar their chances and voter’s perception of the party or candidates. Rumors, falsehood, propaganda and derogatory information about individual candidates or parties are commonplace online and spread faster than anticipated, often with disastrous outcomes. This is largely attributed to the lack of editorial filtering, and the anonymity of most online users. The internet encourages anonymity of its users, which means that those who write and comment often use nicknames or aliases. Hence, anonymity provides an excellent opportunity for writing false stories or spreading rumors about candidates and their parties and this often leads to rancor fear and anxiety about the opposition party.
This has a huge influence on political education, as most voters who read stories online have a tendency to believe such stories without crosschecking facts and take decisions based on this propaganda. This is a widely known fact among political parties and they use it to their advantage in bringing down their opponents. Previous research has found that it is possible to influence a person' attitudes toward a political candidate using carefully crafted information about such candidate online, which in turn may influence the voter’s behavior towards the candidate.Social media (Facebook and Twitter) can also be used by various parties to propagate false news and propaganda about the opposition in order to disfavor such party or candidate in the eyes of the electorates while exonerating theirs. This has a huge influence on political education as many voters make decisions based on such news they read online.
Furthermore, social media (Facebook and Twitter) has made voters privy to any kind of information about politicians and their lives as there are no longer any isolated places or hiding holes. The private and public lives of society’s most influential figures including politicians have been made public online. This is because in today’s world, once a politician declares for a post, his entire life including his educational background, his family, his job and any past mistakes or excesses are made public on social media (Facebook and Twitter) platforms for people to comment, discuss and publicly judge. Many politicians have been found in compromising positions with their words or phrase taken out of context and magnified to huge proportions by opposition parties in order to discredit them.
Many atimes, people go to the extent of recording private conversations or actions of these candidates and make the recorded audio or video public on various social media (Facebook and Twitter) platforms such as Youtube quickly, with a view to elicit response and vicious backlash from voters and other online users. The belief is that it will go a long way in influencing political education and turning such voter against the candidate since the voter can now judgmentally make decisions about the candidate based on what he said, did or other information about him or her. Even though, such information are refuted sometimes by the concerned party or individual, it remains valid in the minds of many voters who may have made up their mind already or simply are not aware of the true situation.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The general objective of this study is to determine the effect of social media (Facebook and Twitter) on political education in Nigeria. The specific objectives are;
1. To find out if social media (Facebook and Twitter) influences political education in Nigeria
2. To determine the influence social media (Facebook and Twitter) has on political education in Nigeria
3. To find out other factors that influence political education in Nigeria
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Does social media (Facebook and Twitter) influence political education in Nigeria?
2. What is the influence of social media (Facebook and Twitter) on political education in Nigeria?
3. What are the factors that influence political education in Nigeria?
1.5 HYPOTHESES
In order to enable the researcher assess the effect of social media (Facebook and Twitter) on political education in Nigeria, the following hypotheses will be tested:
1. Ho:Social media (Facebook and Twitter) does not have any effect on political education in Nigeria.
HA: Social media (Facebook and Twitter) has effect on political education in Nigeria.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will help beam the searchlight on the impact of social media (Facebook and Twitter) on political education, the decisions they make and elections as a whole based on the information available to voters on the internet. It will also enlighten relevant stakeholders such as political parties, candidates, and even the civil society on how social media (Facebook and Twitter) can bring about awareness and campaign opportunities if properly utilized.
This research study will help stakeholders understand that maintaining a good and healthy profile online with a cordial relationship between the party and voters can positively influence political education. Lastly, this research work will add to the body of knowledge on the already existing scholarly materials on the impact of social media (Facebook and Twitter) on political education.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATION OF STUDY
This study will examine the impact of social media (Facebook and Twitter) on political education in Nigeria with special reference to the actual influence it has on vote’s behaviour either positive or negative and the factors determining the behaviour and attitudes that an ordinary voter adopts based on available information gotten online.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Voter: a person who has attained the voting age and has the right to vote for a candidate in an election
Social media (Facebook and Twitter): are computer mediated tools that allow people to create, share or
exchange information, ideas and pictures/videos in virtual communities and online networks
Behaviour: is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals in
conjunction with themselves or their environment.
Internet: an interconnected group of computer networks allowing for electronic
communication.
Election: the formal process of selecting a person for public office or of
accepting or rejecting a political proposition by voting.
Campaign: an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group.
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