Social Media use in the Political Mobilization of the Electorate in the 2015 Elections
AYARA, Margaret Imakwiru
Rivers State University Port Harcourt
Abstract
This study analyzed how social media was used for the political mobilization of voters during the 2015 general election in Rivers State. The purpose of the study was to determine the use of social media in persuading and mobilizing eligible voters for 2015 general election.
To accomplish this purpose, the survey research method was used with the questionnaire and interview guide as the instruments for data collection. For the survey, 384 questionnaire copies were distributed to 354 party leaders and 30 INEC staff members.
Out of this number, only 350 copies of the questionnaire were duly filled and returned forming the basis for the analysis. For the interview, 3 publicity sectaries from the selected political parties participated in the study. The data collected were analysed using frequency tables, percentages and the Four-point Likert scale while the interview data were analysed thematically.
The study found that social media contributed to the voting strength of the 2015 general election in Rivers State. Also, the most preferred social media platform during the 2015 general elections in Rivers State was Facebook. Furthermore, political parties as well as INEC encountered the issues of lack of sufficient funds, inadequate manpower and insecurity during the 2015 general election in Rivers State.
It was concluded that the social media played an effective role during and after the elections which culminated in electoral victory: that, social media usage required a lot of precautionary measures to combat the growing trend of online misinformation. It was, therefore, recommended that INEC should begin with physical campaign for voters’ participation for a long time before electioneering period to give the electorate first hand information and trainings on the voting process. Also, the use of social media should be intensified during elections.
Keywords: Social Media, elections, political mobilization, persuasion
Introduction
The social media has the advantage of being brief, instantaneous and quick in reply. While it has gained popularity worldwide, social media is not new. With the widespread adoption of personal computers in the mid-1990s, services such as chat rooms, newsgroups, and instant messaging were among the early attractions for users of the World Wide Web (Thurlow, Lengel & Tomic, 2004).
What are new, however, are the attention given to it and the uses to which it has been given to expanding forms of social media – YouTube, Facebook, blogging etc and especially Twitter and Facebook as a means of not only creating virtual communities but also creating content. Social media are considered valuable, providing a means of persuading and mobilizing targeted groups or posting statements describing organizational and personal activities.
In late 2006 when Twitter was launched, its creators stated that the purpose of “tweets” was to tell your followers what you were doing (Jackson & Lilleker, 2011). However, social media in the second decade of the 21st century is used not just for mere chatting, but for serious social and political activities. The social media can be described as a variety of web-based platforms, applications and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one another online.
It can also be said to be an internet-based communication system that allows participants go back and forth in a communication transaction. Unlike newspaper, radio or even television, the social media are more involving. The social media allows participants to interact while giving them information. This interaction can be as simple as asking for comments, opinion polls, or letting participants take a position on current issues.
Some examples of social media platforms and applications include Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram and other sites that have content based on user participation known as User-Generated Content (UGC).
Santomier, 2008 however, asserts that social media are relatively new communication processes revolutionising everything we know about online communication. The most popular social media platforms (arguably Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp) allow individuals to post information and updates in real time for their respective audiences.
Indeed, the window of opportunities that currently exist for political parties offer new avenues through which voters, especially the active younger generation can be addressed (Santomier, 2008). The social media has been a great tool for mobilisation both social and political. In 2008, the social media was very instrumental to mobilising voters for the Obama campaign to the extent that he was dubbed the social media president.
According to European Business Review, in early 2007, Barack Obama was a little-known Senator running for resident against Democratic Nominee and household name, Hilary Clinton. But on November 4, 2008, Obama, 47, was the first African American to win the election against Republican candidate, John McCain, becoming the 44th president of the United States.
Social media has been popular for electoral mobilisation since it came into existence.
Apart from America, India also used the social media in Indian parliamentary election 2014. The assumption is that political parties use social media because traditional media in most countries are either owned by the ruling government or are highly regulated by regulatory bodies and electoral commissions of such countries.
In the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, political parties and their supporters took over the web in an attempt to better reach voters. At first it was the use of static webpage to promote campaign goals, promises and information. However, as social media began to rise in popularity, political parties tried to cash in attempting to extend their ability to reach more electorate.
The 2015 general elections recorded the highest voting in Rivers State.
It was also the highest in the South-South geopolitical zone. Considering the level of violence also reported during the elections and the fact that the State had never recorded such high turnout, bearing in mind also that Rivers State was on the front burner in the media during the period because, the incumbent Governor had abandon his party for a new political party thereby making the opposition seem to be very tough.
In the face of all these, how the electorate were mobilised for the election become a source of interest. The level of political awareness exhibited by the electorate in the 2015 general elections in Rivers State was arguably very high. It therefore became very important to investigate how the electorate were mobilised to become so interested in the elections, the role of the social media in the entire mobilisation process. It was based on the foregoing that the researcher decided to investigate the use of the social media for voter mobilisation in the 2015 general elections in Rivers State.
Statement of the Problem
In a country like Nigeria with about 180 million people, political parties would obviously need mass media that could reach more people faster and at a cost-effective rate. For the first time since 1999, Nigeria witnessed a very serious contest between the ruling party and the opposition party (Jega, 2015).
Therefore, the need to mobilise voters became more paramount than ever before. Political parties realised that they needed to mobilise voters if they had to win the election. In Rivers State, the contending parties needed to mobilise support from voters in the State for the election.
While the incumbent governor at the time who had left his party for a newly formed party needed to mobilise the support of the electorate to vote the candidate of the new party, the challenger also had the need to mobilise the electorate in his favour. Considering that the challenger was once the Chief of Staff and a member of the “kitchen cabinet” of the governor, a lot of interest on the side of the electorate who were eager to hear what the two parties had to say in their campaigns was created.
Before 2015, television was the most attractive medium for political mobilisations in Nigeria. However, the Internet came into Nigeria in 1999 and Nigerians embraced it wholly. Since then, political communication consultants have flaunted its delivery promise especially that of the social media changing the face of political mobilisation in Nigeria.
The number of Nigerians with access to the Internet continues to grow partly because mobile phone manufacturers in collaboration with telecommunication operators had made Internet access via phones possible. According to the Nigeria Communications Commission, of the 115 million mobile telephone subscribers in the country, 35 million use their hand-held devices to access Internet data services.
From the foregoing, it was clear, that the level of exposure of the electorate in Rivers State to political mobilisation messages on the social media is not known. It was also doubtful as to whether the decision to participate in the election by the electorate was influenced by their exposure to the social media. The key question underlying this study, therefore was, what was the role played by the social media in voter mobilisation in 2015 general elections in Rivers State?
Objectives of the Study
The purpose of the study was to determine the use of social media in persuading and mobilizing eligible voters for 2015 general election. The study specifically sought to;
find out how social media enhanced the mobilization of eligible voters for the 2015 general elections.
identify the possible challenges in persuading and mobilizing eligible voters during the 2015 general election.
Research Questions
How did the social media enhance mobilization of eligible voters for the 2015 general elections?
What were the possible challenges in persuading and mobilizing eligible voters for the 2015 general elections?
Literature Review
Critical Theory of Communication
This theory was put forward by the Frankfurt School theoreticians Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm, and Max Horkheimer in the 18th century. It is not irrational to say that, for reasons other than political, a purpose for setting an agenda is to achieve or maintain a level of control and power.
Business decisions are often made to determine what actions can be taken to achieve economic gain, and the language of communication becomes an instrument for accomplishing this objective. Although Deetz (1995) studied business organizations to form his critical theory of communication by examining the choice of words and language used to advance organizational objectives, his theory has applications for the political exploitation of power.
For example, Deetz (1992) observes that the focus on election-day politics gives legitimacy to arrangements and conflicts becoming forms of resolutions that enable certain choices and suppress others. Suppression, however, is not the same as stifling and eliminating conflicting speech. On the contrary, power differences in the creation of meaning, identity, and access to information are considered more important than the fear of censorship and the right of self-expression. Deetz (1992) asserts that the right of self-expression is more central than the right to be informed.
In terms of our governance, through participation in elections, people feel secure and protected by the state whose policing action is thought to be legitimate. While the state provides a protection for the less advantaged segments of society, it generally provides the necessary regulation for corporate development and successful commerce (Deetz, 1992). Yet democracy is more than the promotion of capitalism.
In terms of organizational influence, there is also an ethical component. Deetz (1992) sees “representation, communication, and morality” as mutually defining terms, seeing the desire for a stronger, practical democracy being deeply shared in our society.
Democracy is primarily tied to state political processes, with communication creating the “informed public” necessary to foster the marketplace of ideas (Deetz, 1992).
Voting, then, gives the tally of who is winning in that marketplace, and arguably, the concept of democracy is historically linked more to Election Day than to everyday life (Deetz, 1992). Election Day politics give legitimacy to the arguments and provide a resolution to political choices, enabling some, and suppressing others. Unfortunately, communication leading to the vote is sometimes little more than the representation of private interests rather than a narrative of choices to improve public options.
Media sometimes reduces the choices of democracy to the interest of capitalism.
Deetz (1992) echoes the concern of communication theorists such as Stuart Hall (1980) whose cultural studies theory of communication warns that media messages, even mediated through active and aware listeners, are strongly affected by the media influences of the prevailing culture and business interest.
The Speech Act Theory
The Speech Act Theory was developed by John Searl (1969) and J.L. Austin (1975). According to Austin, people tend to use language not just for describing the world around them, but also to do things, thus speech in itself is a type of action. The theory distinct between three types of aspects in a sentence: locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary.
The locutionary aspect describes a state of affairs in the world, like “I am a professor” illocutionary aspect refers to an action in saying something, for example: “I promise to be on time next week”. In this example, the promise is seen as an action. Finally, the perlocutionary aspect points out what a speaker does or is trying to achieve by or through saying something. For example, one can achieve a result by threatening: “If you don’t come on time, I will not wait for you” (Thomassen 2010).
When writing about communicative action, Habermas (1984) points out that “The necessity for coordinated action generates in society a certain need for communication, which must be met if it is to be possible to coordinate actions effectively for the purpose of satisfying needs.” (Habermas, 1984, p.4).
Thus it can be concluded that communicative action serves the purpose of action coordination and bonding between individuals in their urge to achieve something. At the same time, “with the illocutionary force of an utterance a speaker can motivate a hearer to accept the offer contained in his speech act and thereby to accede to a rationally motivated binding or bonding.
Thus illocutionary aspect can be directly connected to the communicative action, as they are both impossible without mutual understanding and bonding” (p.6). (Habermas (1984). Suggest that, when the actor and the speaker come to understanding with one another, they are basing their communication on the system of worlds. He then proposes the division on the internal and external worlds, where external world is also divided into an objective and a social world and the internal world serves as a complementary concept to the external one (Habermas 1984)
Based on that, Habermas (1984). Suggest that in the speech act an individual makes three types of validity claims that reference to the three types of worlds. The validity claims are the following: the claim for truth, rightness and sincerity Thomassen (2010). In conclusion it can be said that the validity of validity claims may be tested. The claims of truth are being tested through discourse, where actors debate the truth of a matter and referring to evidence. Rightness can be tested through the discourse about what norms ought to be and what individuals can expect from one another.
At last, comparing words with actions, which in most cases can only be done post factum, may test the sincerity claim. The theory above is to apply to study as it get to do with how persuasion and mobilization through social media can work in 2019 general election.
Social Media
The Internet platforms that are collectively called social media have created a global village or community by means of communication that allows for friends to briefly disseminate immediate message. Although social media is tremendously popular and widely used, it is not new to the Internet.
With the widespread adoption of personal computers in the mid-1990s, services such as chat rooms, newsgroups, and instant messaging were among the early attractions for users of the World Wide Web (Thurlow, Lengel & Tomic, 2004).
He opined that, what is new, however, is the attention that has been given to expanding various forms of social media YouTube, Facebook, messenger, blogging, WhatsApp and Twitter as a means of not only creating virtual communities, but as a way of immediate communication to trigger or motivating members to act.
Messages on these sites have been considered more important by providing a means of either marketing to targeted groups or posting statements describing ordinary personal activities, based on this it is of benefit to politicians and political parties to utilize it for online campaign to persuade and mobilize voters.
Social media in the second decade of the 21st century, however, has evolved to delivering not just chatting, but serious social and political messages, giving calls to action that will arouse eligible voters to cast their vote. (Tumasjan, Sprenger, Sander & Welpe, 2012). According to them, Facebook, YouTube and especially Twitter were used to let Obama supporters know how he felt about important issues.
As it helps Senator Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign, it will work in 2019 general election if politicians and political parties will integrate it as their strategy. These social network sites will be significant virtual communities in campaigning to persuasion and mobilization; it will go a long way and giving legitimacy to their influence in the political arena.
Voter Mobilisation
In every election, voters are expected to come out in their numbers to vote for their leaders and representatives of choice. In Nigeria, there has always been this lack of interest on the side of the electorate to come out and cast their votes during elections.
The reasons for this attitude range from the belief that the votes do not count, to electoral violence and intimidation. (Jega 2015 p 32) alludes to this position in a paper presented at the first Ahmadu Bello Public lecture where he stated that it can be argued that the consequences of badly conducted elections and poorly managed electoral processes are major contributing factors to military interregnum in Nigeria’s political history.
At inception of the Fourth Republic, the 1999 elections were conducted under military rule. There were fundamental flaws in the elections, but Nigerians wanted to get rid of military rule and have power transferred to civilians. They tolerated and accommodated the outcome and hoped for future improvements.
The 2003 elections, unfortunately, did not represent a substantive improvement over the 1999 elections, in terms of transparency and credibility. Rather, the elections at best represented “business as usual”, in terms of inflation of votes, fraudulent declaration of results, use of armed thugs to scare away or assault voters and cart away election materials and many other irregularities and illegalities, which were committed with impunity.
This position notwithstanding, political parties do not relent in their effort to mobilise voters to come out on Election Day and vote the parties’ candidate. Usually, countries reform their electoral laws from time to time as all societies strive to have a perfect electoral system.
In Nigeria, there have been various electoral reforms, the 2015 general elections in Nigeria was conducted after an electoral reform following the submission of the report of the Justice Muhammadu Uwais Electoral Reform Committee (ERC). It is based on the reforms that voters registration, election proper and post-election activities are conducted.
Every serious minded political party begins voters’ mobilization from the point of voters’ registration. It is important for political parties to mobilise their sympathisers to register for voting. The reason is that only a registered voter can vote on the voting day. Therefore, an unregistered voter is practically useless to the political party.
It is important to note that voters’ mobilization is different from membership mobilization. During elections, it is possible that members of other parties vote for candidates from parties other than theirs and then there are also independent voters who are willing to swing to any side depending on conviction.
In a 2011 study from the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Exeter titled “Getting Out the Vote: Minority Mobilization in a Presidential Election,” the authors conclude that minorities may not be harder to mobilise; they may simply be the recipients of mobilisation efforts that are less effective in bringing them to the polls….
Our data cannot say what lies behind this but we do not wish to imply that it is a conscious strategy by the parties; more likely it is a consequence of other factors such as socioeconomic characteristics, residential mobility, and other residential patterns which was suggested by our findings concerning in-person contact in the home as opposed to on the street that make the parties unwilling to expend their most labour intensive efforts on minorities. Nevertheless, the implications for minority participation are profound.
During elections, every citizen of voting age is important. Political parties find ways to mobilise voters to vote for their candidates. Nigerian political parties have at their disposal, the television, radio, town-hall meetings, door-to-door, text messaging, social media, group discussions etc, for the mobilisation of voters.
Voter’s mobilisation during election is the key to winning elections and how political parties manage voters’ mobilisation determines whether they get into power or not. However, it is quite difficult mobilising Nigerian voters now because according to Jega (2015), the average Nigerian has been so profoundly frustrated, disappointed and devastated by the crude manifestations of the mechanics of Nigerian electoral politics, so much so that they have become either apathetic and indifferent, or exceedingly cynical or skeptical. Once bitten, it is said, twice shy. Nigerian citizens and voters have been ‘bitten’ several times in politics and in elections.
Persuasion and Mobilization of Eligible Voters
Eligible voters are adults that have reached the age of voting. One challenge in encouraging online participants in political discussions to eligible voters is keeping them engaged. Dale and Strauss (2009) stated that for some elections, turnout strategy can be successful simply by making sure voters pay attention to the message that will persuade them to vote.
Their 2006 field experiment found that text messaging was effective in mobilizing voters. However, three areas were important to consider. First and most obvious, registered voters already signaled their willingness to participate in the election process. Second, as a consequence of their registration, some voters needed less persuasion than others to vote. Third, personal and impersonal reminders can be effective, but only if the recipient does not ignore the message.
Chatting messages through social media can create a sense of social connectedness, feeding pressure to pay attention, thereby making these messages less likely to be ignored. Research by Dale and Strauss (2009) reveals that twitter messages were effective in turning citizens who think of themselves as “nonvoters” into thinking of themselves as “voters.”
While the signing up to vote and voting may seem similar to the individual, voter registration and the decision to vote come from different personal areas. Social occasion theory, for example, would argue that social connectedness increases the likelihood of voting. Therefore, in elections that are perceived to be less important, i.e., non-presidential, an increase in social connectedness can increase the likelihood of voting.
Consequently, for a political message to be effective it must break through the clutter of messages competing for attention (Dale & Strauss, 2009). Aside from campaigning, politicians have found social media useful for connecting with their constituency. By using Twitter, Facebook and blogging to enhance communication to mobilize supporters online and to persuade eligible voters as well. (Jackson & Lilleker, 2011). Minister Alan Johnson claims to be the first UK politician to use Twitter as part of his campaign.
While he did not win the leadership post he was running for, Jackson and Lilleker report that his use of Twitter gained British Media coverage both for him and this new micro blogging tool. The question then posed by UK politicians was whether Twitter was something they needed to jump on as a way of reaching audiences efficiently and effectively.
However, Jackson and Lilleker (2011) found that for MPs, the adoption of online tools was a more complex process. Members were unsure of what applications would be successful from using online services such as e-newsletters, weblogs, and social networking sites such as Twitter to enhance their ability to perform their representative role.
Although these MP’s may be among the first sitting representatives to use Twitter widely, it took off only when Barack Obama and John Edwards used it effectively in the 2007 Democratic Party primaries (Jackson & Lilleker, 2011). Assessing the use of Twitter was underpinned by two interrelated theories.
Jackson and Lilleker (2011) saw the use of impression management theory for the MP’s use of Twitter for self-promotion, and constituency service frameworks by using the social media to form a link between tweeting MPs and their constituency. The researchers conclude that Twitter can meet both objectives simultaneously, and that there is clear evidence that for MPs the use of Twitter is a tool of impression management.
It is noteworthy that Twitter appears to be adding to the enhanced strengths of constituents, causing some to move slowly away from traditional parties (Jackson & Lilleker, 2011). Research on this trend could be valuable for US political parties.
Political persuasions are filled with talking to convince people to vote for them.
If there is any information in all that talking, political parties will want to use information to win to convince. They can talk their way to victory in a combination of two ways. First, a party can convince voters that their candidate will be fantastic at doing what the voter wants. Second, a party can convince voters that their candidate is not as bad as the other party’s candidate. The optimal strategy depends on what voters initially believe about both candidates and the other party’s campaign strategy so using social media will ease their strategies of persuading both young and old online. They also mobilize their supporters on social media to campaign them.
The Dynamics of Social Media in Nigerian Political Campaigns
In Nigeria, we have seen a growth in the use of social media in political campaigns and electioneering processes. For example, in the Nigerian 2015 general elections, Facebook was employed due to its participatory nature (Apuke & Tunca 2018). It was used as a platform for political campaign organization, electioneering crusades, ideological trumpeting exercises, and mobilization of voters.
This means that Facebook adoption in political campaigns helps political aspirants to disseminate information easily as well as mobilize voters (Apuke & Tunca 2018). Supporting this view, an investigation that examined the Nigerian 2015 general elections also reported that Twitter was mostly used and this mobilized and influenced people to vote a particular candidate (Bartlett; Krasodomski-Jones; Daniel; Fishe; & Jesperson 2015).
This shows that the use of Twitter for political campaigns assist political aspirants in mobilizing and influencing the electorate to vote for them. This supports Suntai and Targema (2017) who found that the civil society deployed the arsenal of social media effectively to broadcast information during the 2015 general elections in Nigeria (Apuke & Tunca 2018). Accordingly, there was evidence to show that during the period of the campaign, Tweet meets and Hangouts were the in-thing within Nigerian online socio-political networks.
Even during the voting process, it was discovered that pictures and videos floated on Facebook and WhatsApp accounts showing party agents who were arrested in the act buying voters with money and some other concessions as well as the issue of underage voting in some states prompting immediate action by INEC (Apuke & Tunca 2018).
In the same way, Oseni (Oseni 2015) reiterated that during the collation of results, citizen journalists and the civil society used social media to inform the public as regards the results in several states across the country. This proposes that social media could be viewed as a watchdog and a reportage route to political processes in Nigeria.
This view is harmony with Oyenuga (2015) who found that in the 2015 presidential elections, social media results were sourced from wards and participating youth corps members in the electoral procedures even before the final release of INEC results. The release of the results via social media increased political participation as most people had firsthand results, before the final release.
These results were not just transmitted from the social media blogs, but were also re-circulated via social networking sites and applications (Apuke & Tunca 2018). As a consequence, the process added value to the Nigerian political culture and facilitated other issues that might have resulted from the electoral operation. This evidence corroborates with Udoka (2015 cited in Apuke & Tunca 2018) who commented that the 2015 election was decided, dominated and directed by social media because social media played a central role as a watchdog.
As votes were still being counted at the polling units, the outcomes were immediately reported on various social media within minutes and when announced officially, the results were the same. Similarly, Temitope and Ahmad (2017) observed that social media was utilized in the 2015 elections as an avenue for encouraging people to vote, collation and preservation of the election results which prevented possibly election manipulation that usually occurs in Nigeria (Apuke & Tunca 2018).
Some other related study by Okolo et al. (2017) clearly showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the usage of Facebook as an awareness, social media tool and projection of a political candidates’ image, suggesting that social media serve as credible tools and are capable of influencing the image of political candidates in Nigeria.
This proposes that political candidates should carefully plan and execute communication strategies using various social media tools, so as to fully enjoy the inherent benefits of the social media tools such as credibility and awareness. Consistent with this notion, Emetumah (2016) concludes that the role of social media in the Nigerian 2015 elections is inevitable because it was deployed to shape the opinions of many youths, increasing their political awareness and consciousness, which in turn resulted in an unbelievable presidential win of the opposition party (APC) over the ruling party (PDP).
Contrary to this notion, other researchers believe that during the 2015 general elections, social media did not provide the platforms that were essential to the success of democratic struggles for political change or transformation of the political economy of voting in Nigeria, and that the extent to which they influenced choice of the candidate was minimal, even though they contributed to the choice of candidates (Mustapha 2017, Asemah 2017).
This supports the survey of Edegoh and Anunike (2016) which suggests that two leading political parties in the 2015 Nigerian general elections did not use social media much in the electioneering campaigns, but mainly for announcement of party flag bearers, accusations and counter accusations of electoral fraud posed by other opposition parties. The same study found that other opposition parties sparingly used social media in political campaigns.
This means that there was a minimal usage of social media for electioneering campaigns in the 2015 Nigerian elections. Consequently, all registered political parties in Nigeria need to be more proactive users of social media in electioneering campaigns and processes at large. Nevertheless, the richness and power of social media in enhancing democracy is inevitable.
Consistent with these findings, Dare (2011) found that former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan launched his Facebook fan page to reach out to the youth and Nigerians with a view to getting feedback on electoral reform and other national issues.
It is significant to mention that the purpose of social media was not only felt in the 2015 election but even in the 2011 elections.
For example, Abubakar (2012) who examined the place of social media in enhancing citizens, political participation in Nigeria, during the 2011 presidential electioneering, found that the political sphere, with the help of social media, broadened and allowed more people to participate in the political discourse that seems to be dominated by conventional media. Social media such as Facebook provided politicians and citizens a platform to share their views that influence the voters’ decision, policy initiation, and implementation.
This is in harmony with Smyth and Best (2013) who found that in the 2011 Nigerian general elections, social media helped to overcome the previous scarcity of information witnessed during electoral processes, and this lead to an increased transparency and reduction of tension. Thus, by providing sufficient civil society coordination, social media could be an efficient tool for electoral scrutiny, which in turn build public confidence (Apuke & Tunca 2018).
From the foregoing, it is clear that there is a plethora of works on social media, political communication, and democracy in Nigeria and a considerable number of these works indicates that social media usage has an impact on electioneering campaigns. Nevertheless, if used negatively it tarnishes the image of political aspirants and opponents leading to high level of propaganda (Apuke & Tunca 2018).
Methodology
This study adopted the survey method. This is normally used in administrative and social research where people’s views and opinions a on certain phenomena are involved. The population for this study was the two million, three hundred and sixty seven thousand, five hundred and forty six (2,367,546) registered voters in Rivers State of Nigeria and the instrument for data collection was the questionnaire.
The sample size for this study was three hundred and eighty-four (384) respondents selected from the entire population. The researcher used the Sample Size Calculator (Survey Monkey), an online software that calculates and determines what sample size is representative enough for a given population. The multi-stage sampling method was applied in selecting the sample for the study.
Multi-stage sampling (also known as multi-stage cluster sampling) is a complex form of cluster sampling which contains two or more stages in sample selection. In simple terms, in multi-stage sampling large clusters of population are divided into smaller clusters in several stages in order to make primary data collection more manageable.
The researcher adopted the three Senatorial Districts of Rivers State, namely; Rivers East, Rivers West and Rivers South East. The second stage was to select three local government areas from each of the Senatorial Districts using purposive sampling to ensure that the local government areas with the highest number of voters were selected.
The third stage was to select party leaders and INEC staff which were believed to be responsible for voter mobilization either directly or indirectly as sample. The three local government selected from the three senatorial district were Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni (Rivers West), Obio/Akpor (Rivers East) and Khana (Rivers South-East).
These three local government areas were selected because they have the highest number of registered voters. A further breakdown of the sampling showed that Khana has 19 wards, Obio/Akpor and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas have 17 wards each.
At the ward level, all the party leaders and party secretaries of the three political parties were sampled. They numbered 318 from all the 53 wards of the three local government areas. At the local government level, all the party chairmen, publicity secretaries and youth leaders from the two political parties were sampled numbering twenty seven (27).
At the state level, the state party chairmen, women leaders and youth leaders from the three political parties were chosen as part of the sample numbering 9 from the state level. Also constituting part of the sample was thirty INEC staff (sixteen from the state level and fourteen from the various LGAs) were sampled.
This makes a total of three hundred and eighty four (384) respondents from the three political parties and INEC hierarchy in Rivers State. The results were thereafter analysed and interpreted using simple percentage and frequency table for the demographic section while the Four-point Likert Scale was used in determining the decision level of the respondents
Results and Findings
From the above table, the respondents accepted three propositions that; the social media was successfully used to mobilize electorates to participate in the 2015 general elections, people came out in mass to vote because of social media message and that social media contributed to the 2015 election’s voting strength. To further confirm the usefulness of the social media the respondents disagreed that it contributed to poor turnout during the election.
Interview Question 1
Please comment on how the social media was used during the 2015 elections by your political party?
Response from APC Publicity Secretary
The social media was used massively during the 2015 general election to mobilize voters to come out and vote. You know, we were the opposition then at the federal level hence we needed as much voters as possible to over throw the federal government. I think it paid off all thanks to the social media as well as other conventional media utilized during the electoral process.
Response from PDP Publicity Secretary
Well I will say our great party utilized the social media to a large extent in order to persuade voters to come out and perform their civic responsibilities. You know in other to get the people attention, you have to go where they love to be, online, and beyond going there you have to convince them with evidence why you want them to vote for your party, hence we did a massive social media mobilization especially to counter what other political parties were throwing out there.
Response from Labour Party Publicity Secretary
What we had then in 2015 was a war of words on all media platforms. Yes of course for you to be able to contend with the challenge you have to put on the armor of words and these words were pushed out mostly on social media. This was party as a result of the crowd that accesses the social media and the limited space available on the conventional media particularly. For smaller political parties like ours, our presence on social media was vicious and we used it basically to push forward our agenda.
Interview Question 2
How did the social media enhance the mobilization of voters during the 2015 election?
Response from APC Publicity Secretary
Through the social media we were able to mobilize the youths from all the part of the country to help achieve our change mantra. The change proposition dominated our manifestation and the social media was a big instrument for its diffusion to all the voters nationwide. Its effect was really positive as it paid off greatly.
Response from PDP Publicity Secretary
The youths were particularly targeted during the 2015 election and they were mobilized massively with some artists adding their voice to the campaign. We mobilize more youths to partake in the election using the social media.
Response from Labour Party Publicity Secretary
The best way to reach out to the young ones on any matter at all is through the social media. You know, many youths feel comfortable talking online than acting physically. We reached out to a great number of young minds using the social media and they believed in our course and supported us massively.
Interview Question 3
Kindly comment on the challenges encountered in the 2015 general elections while persuading and mobilizing voters
Response from APC Publicity Secretary:
Yeah, as a party we had many challenges in convincing people to vote for our relatively new party that was fast growing. Because we had a lot of people joining from the then ruling party (PDP) we were branded “old wine in new bottles” hence it took a lot of convincing to make people actually believe that we meant well for the country.
The personality of our candidate then (General Muhamadu Buhari) actually helped us to conquer this challenge. Also, the issue of funding posed a great challenge for the party as our opposition party was challenge for the party as our opposition party was in power hence they had all the money to buy whoever they wanted.
But of course not everyone was for sale. Some personal betrayal by some of our party leaders also hindered our mobilisation of voters as funds meant for mobilization were in some cases siphoned.
Response from PDP Publicity Secretary
The challenges we had included:
The first is fund diversification by unfaithful party leaders.
Second, failure by some party members to fulfill their promises to the people; this actually led to mistrust from the electorates and party members and lastly the issue of ethnicity and religion.
Response from Labour Party Publicity Secretary
Our own major challenge was funding because we were a small political party that needed sponsorship. We needed to open more offices in every local government and this required money. Recruitment of members from the various wards also was a challenge and this deprived us the opportunity to create our presence beyond online promises.
Discussion of Findings
Research Question 1
How did the social media enhance mobilization of eligible voters for the 2015 general elections?
The result on table 4.3 was used in addressing this research question. From the table, item A shows that 110 respondents agreed strongly that the social media was used successfully to mobilize the electorate to participate in the 2015 general elections. 199 respondents merely agreed increasing the number of respondents that agreed to 309.
This high response shows that social media use for the 2015 election for mobilization was a success. This result was supported by items B and C which agreed that the people came out in mass to vote because of the information they got from the social media and that social media contributed to the voting strength of the 2015 general election in Rivers State respectively.
This findings show that to great extent, the social media did mobilize eligible voters for the 2015 general elections. This findings agrees with that of Dunu and Uzochukwu (2015) when they posit that the internet has changed not only people’s relationships by creating new platforms for social engagement, but also people’s ability to contribute in the development process in the society by creating a space for more diverse political opinions, social and cultural viewpoints and a heightened level of audience participation.
One of the interviewees specifically stated that the youths were particularly targeted during the 2015 election and they were mobilized massively with some artists adding their voice to the campaign. This shows that social media was used to a large extent to mobiles voters during the 2015 general election.
Research Question 2
What were the possible challenges in persuading and mobilizing eligible voters for the 2015 general elections?
The result on table 4.4 shows that there were challenges that confronted the 2015 general elections in Rivers State. Item 2, 3 and 4 itemized the challenges to include lack of sufficient funds, inadequate manpower in INEC and security challenges as the issues that were encountered during the 2015 election in Rivers State.
All these issues as indicated by majority of the respondents hindered the mobilization of eligible voters during the election. From the interview, all the respondents stated that funding and proper utilization of assigned funds constituted a challenge to mobilization of eligible voters. The implication of these responses is that the 2015 general election in Rivers State was not without challenges but however these challenges did not completely cripple the outcome of the election as despite all these challenges, people still turned out to vote and results were announced subsequently.
The findings are summarized as follows:
The social media was used to a large extent to persuade eligible voters to participate in the 2015 general election
Social media contributed to the voting strength of the 2015 general election in Rivers State
The most preferred social media platform during the 2015 general elections in Rivers State was Facebook.
Political parties as well as INEC encountered the issues of lack of sufficient funds, inadequate manpower and insecurity during the 2015 general election in Rivers State.
Conclusion
The social media have serious impact during and after elections in ways that can affect the direction of electoral victories. Also, social media usage requires a lot of precautionary measures in order to combat the growing trend of misinformation online. Still, the social media has come to stay.
As Dunu and Uzochukwu (2015) puts it that the reality of a computer mediated age requires a shift in the ways the society functions and operates, and the increasing popularity of social media, one of many outgrowths of the Internet clearly demonstrates the reality of this new development.
The fast growth of social media activities that has been observed over the past few years is an indication of its entry into mainstream culture and its integration into the daily lives of many people, even within developing societies such as Nigeria. Social media tools have demonstrated the capacity to allow for the participation of the public in the social mobilization effort in ways that were not possible with other means of communication (Dunu & Uzochukwu 2015).
Furthermore, they posit that the social media reduces the costs of sensitization, participation, organization, recruitment and training of different groups for mobilization. But like any tool, social media have inherent weaknesses and strengths, and their effectiveness depends on how effectively the society and its government use them and how accessible they are to people who know how to use them.
Recommendations
Based on the discoveries of this study, the following are recommended:
INEC should establish direct social media platforms that will respond to immediate complains of eligible voters before, during and after elections to ensure the reduction of political apathy that might arise due to lack of feedback.
The use of social media should be intensified during elections.
Social media message scrutiny should be done to reduce the amount of falsified information circulated using this media. This will encourage responsible information postings during elections.
More qualified personnel should be recruited during election coverage to reduce the issue of manpower inadequacy.
References
Abubakar A (2012) Political participation and discourse in social media during the 2011 presidential electioneering. Journal of the African Council for Communication Education 10: 1.
Akubor E (2015) Campaigns and electioneering: Reflecting on the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. A paper presented in a two-day National Conference on “the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria: The Real Issues”; organized by the Electoral Institute, Abuja, Nigeria.
Anggraini DA, Mustofa MHH, Sadewo YI (2014) Analysis of political campaigns through Facebook on Indonesian 2014 Presidential Election. Social Sciences 3, 1-9.
Apuke OD (2016) The influence of social media on academic performance of undergraduate students of Taraba state university, Jalingo, Nigeria. Research on Humanities and Social Science 6, 63-72.
Apuke OD, Apollos IN (2017) Public perception of the role of Facebook usage in political campaigns in Nigeria. Informing Science: International Journal of Community Development & Management Studies 1: 85-102.
Apuke OD, Iyendo TO (2017) The impact of internet usage on academic research and development – Students’ Perspective in a Nigerian University. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: African Scholar Publications and Research International 6: 228-248.
Asemah ES (2017) Use of social media in the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. Mass Communicator: International Journal of Communication Studies 11: 4-11.
Bartlett J, Krasodomski-Jones A, Daniel N, Fisher A, Jesperson S (2015) Social media for election communication and monitoring in Nigeria. A report prepared for the Department for International Development (DFID).
Boyd, Dana M. & Nicole B. E. (2007) Social network sites: Definition, history and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Burgess, J. & Bruns, A. (2012). (Not) the Twitter election. Journalism Practice, 6(3), 384-402.
Dale, A. & Strauss, A. (2009). Don’t forget to vote: Text message reminders as a mobilization tool. American Journal of Political Science, 53(4),
Dare S (2011). The Rise of Citizen Journalism in Nigeria-A Case Study of Sahara Reporters. Reuters Institute Fellowship Paper pp: 1-74.
Deetz, S. A. (1992). Democracy in the Age of Corporate Colonization: Developments in Communication and the Politics of Everyday Life. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Deetz, S. A. (1995). Transforming communication, transforming business: Building responsive and responsible workplaces. Creskill, NJ: Hampton.
Edegoh LO, Anunike OW (2016) Voters’ Assessment of Social Media Use for 2015 Electioneering Campaigns by the two Leading Political Parties in Nigeria. African Research Review 10: 18-40.
Emetumah FI (2016) Social media as a factor for increased frontiers of democracy in Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election. British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science 17: 1-9.
Epstein, R.J. (2012). The disappearing undecided voter. Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79504
Fultner, B. (2011) Jürgen Habermas: key concepts. Durham, England: Acumen
Griffin, E. (2009). A first look at communication theory (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Guardian, (17 June 2018). Fears mount over WhatsApp’s role in spreading fake news. Available online at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jun/17/fears-mount-overwhatsapp-role-in-spreading-fake-news
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action. Boston: Beacon Press,
Ibrahim I, Pate U, Pereira C, Ya’u YZ, Agbanyin BO, et al. (2017) The escalation of hate and dangerous speech in the buildup to the 2015 election and the imperative of strengthening the broadcasting code. A paper presented at the NBC Stakeholders Forum on Political Broadcasts, Chilla Luxury Suites, Kano.
Jackson, N., & Lilleker, D. (2011). Microblogging, constituency service and impression management: UK MPs and the use of Twitter. Journal of Legislative Studies, 17(1),86-105.
Jega, A.M. (2015a). Preparations for the 2015 general elections: Progress report, presentation to the Council of State, 5 February; Jega, A.M. 2015b. Election postponement speech. Pulse, 7 February Available from: http://pulse.ng/politics/2015elections-read-full-text-of-jega-s-election-postponement-speech-id3466565.html [Accessed on 28 June 2020].
Joyce, M. (2010) Digital activism decoded. New York: International Debate Education Association.
Kaplan AM, Haenlein M (2010) Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons 53: 59-68.
Kelsey, T. (2010). Social networking spaces. New York: Apress.
Lampe, C.; LaRose, R.; Steinfield, C. & DeMaagd, K. (2011). Inherent barriers to the use of social media for public policy informatics. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 16(1), pp. 1-17
Learmont, M. (2009). Social media paves way to white house. Advertising Age, 80(11)
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media, the extensions of man. New York: McGraw Hill.
Meyer-Resende, M. (nd). A new frontier social media / networks disinformation and public international law in the context of election observation. Democracy Reporting International.
Nilsen, T. R. (1974). Ethics in speech communication (2nd ed.). New York: MacMillin.
Okolo VO, Ugonna IA, Nebo GN, Obikeze C (2017). Effects of the social media in the marketing of political candidates in Nigeria. British Journal of Marketing Studies 5: 15-32.
Olabamiji O (2014). Use and misuse of the new media for political communication in Nigeria’s 4th Republic. Developing Country Studies 4, 44-53.
Oseni AL (2015). How social media revolutionized election in Nigeria. Premium Times. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/?p=167255
Oyenuga AS (2015). Social media participation and pollution of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. Retrieved online from https://www.inecnigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Conference-Paper-by-Adedeji-Oyenuga.pdf
Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death. New York: The Penguin Group.
Santomie, J. (2008). New media, branding and global sports sponsorship. In International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship. pp 15-29
Shea, D. M. & Burton, M. (2010) Campaign craft. Westport, Conn. Praeger,
Smyth TN, Best ML (2013) Tweet to trust: social media and elections in West Africa. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers 1: 133-141.
Stuart, H. (1980). Culture studies: Two paradigms. Media, Culture & Society, 2, 57-72.
Suntai D. I. & Targema T. S. (2017). New media and democracy in Nigeria: an appraisal of the opportunities and threats in the terrain. Brazilian Journal 2: 198-209.
Suntai D. I., Targema T. S. (2015). Social media and democracy in Africa: assessing the 2015 general election experience in Nigeria. Paper presented at the International Conference on Democracy, Dictatorship and Development in Africa. Department of History and International Studies. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lappi.
Temitope, O. A. S. & Ahmad R. (2017). The role of social media during the 2015 voting process in the Nigeria election. Research Journal of Applied Sciences 12: 281-287.
Thomassen, L. (2010): A guide for the perplexed. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Thurlow, C., Lengel, L., & Tomic, A. (2004). Computer mediated communication: Social interaction and the internet. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Tumasjan, A., Sprenger, T. O., Sandner, P. G., & Welpe, I. M. (2011). Election forecasts withTwitter: How140 characters reflect the political landscape. Social Science Computer Review 29(4), 402-418
