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| The Impact Of Social Media On The Sociopolitical Orientation And Consciousness Of Nigerians: An Appraisal Of The #Endsars Protests In Nigeria. |
Anowia,Victoria Tochukwu and Omaliko, Emeka Franklin
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Abstract:
The basic thrust of all public protests is to create a means for people to object to, or complain in a public way about a repulsive situation, condition, or something they perceive as wrong, with a view of aggregating and building support to correct it. Strictly speaking, the means of most public protests involve the occupation of public spaces, rallies, marches, petitions, and etcetera. In contemporary times however, the internet has opened new means of public protests, particularly, via various social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, among others. Sequel to the above, this work therefore examines the impact of social media on the socio-political orientation cum consciousness of Nigerians during the #EndSars protest. Communication theory was adopted as the theoretical framework while documentary data was generated and analyzed using content analysis. This paper observed that the social media impacted on the sociopolitical consciousness of the people by providing opportunity for reorientation of attitudes, beliefs, sentiments, and values of the people towards their socio-cultural environment, thus, leading for greater awareness and mass involvement in processes that can midwife desired change. Conversely, the utilization of social media during the course of the #EndSARS protests, has advertised the porousness of such platforms, and has brought the question of its regulation to the fore. This is primarily consequent upon its tendency to encourage instant reports of fake news, panic messages, and unreliable or unconfirmed information and updates. The study suggests measures like equipping relevant agencies and journalists with technical capabilities in cyber security and cyber intelligence in regulating the shortfalls of Social Media.
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