Abstract:
Social media have evolved as the most common information source in the world. Currently, social media have gained more popularity in political communication and mobilization efforts. Recent elections in Nigeria witnessed the profound use of online platforms to mobilize and galvanize people for political actions. This study evaluates the effectiveness of social media as tool for political mobilization in 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. The combination of survey and focus groups were adopted to provide the study with quantitative and qualitative data. Five research questions were generated to provide answers to the key variables that make up this study. The sample was generated using the Australian National Statistical Service (NSS) online calculator, which gives us 385 from the population of this study, which was derived from the population of eligible voters in Southern Nigerian (which includes: South-West South-East and South-South geopolitical zones) for the period under study, 31,173,882. The results were presented in table, percentages and charts. The results of the findings from the survey and focus group revealed that 100% of the respondents were exposed to social media messages during the 2015 presidential election, 96% used various social media platforms, and 72.2% said they were influenced by the messages they were exposed to. Majority of the respondents (90.3%) agree that social media were effective in the presidential election; majority of the focus group participants agreed with these claims. A large percentage numbering 312 of the respondents agreed that social media can be effective in political mobilization. However, the study identified some challenges that can stall the effective use of social media in political mobilization. On the other hand, practical solutions that would help reduce such blips were also provided. Some of the recommendations the study proferred are; sensitization of the masses on the use of social media during election, monitoring and moderate regulation of social media platforms during elections in order to reduce malicious contents; and lastly, the study seggested that social media should be incorporated into other official activities that precede elections.
