As the general elections approach, political parties and politicians have found in the social media a veritable platform to reach more supporters, JESUSEGUN ALAGBE writes

Political parties and politicians participating in next month’s general elections have found another way of reaching voters for the purpose of wooing them.

The politicians, many of who have pasted posters and billboards in strategic locations across of the country, have found the social media a useful platform to get closer to the people, especially voters.

Just like celebrities take to the platform to communicate with their fans, Nigerian politicians are also quick to take to the platform to, not only campaign to the electorate, but to also “attack” perceived opposition.

According to Internet data reports by a Singapore-based online portal, wearesocial.org, there are over six million Nigerian Facebook users and about a million users each of messaging services such as Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger and WhatsApp.

It is safe to say that parties and politicians have devised the means to seek the electorate’s favour through each of these media platforms ahead of the February general elections.

With his more than 1,700,000 Facebook followers, the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, is the first Nigerian President to use social media to communicate with the citizens.

Apart from using the online platform to tell Nigerians some of his achievements while in office, the President has been using the medium to seek the electorate’s support.

Every Facebook post of the President attracts thousands of likes and comments from his supporters and the opposition.

His party, the PDP, has just a little above 60,000 followers on the Facebook and about 28,000 Twitter followers.

Likewise, a few days after Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) was elected to run against President Jonathan in next month’s presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, he too took the campaign for voters’ support to the social media. In just few days after signing up on Twitter, the former head of state has gained over 70,000 followers and also commands about 100,000 followers on Facebook.

In addition to being accredited quickly on Twitter, Buhari has also been a regular user of the service – using it almost every day to seek the people’s support.

His party, the APC, with over 75,000 Twitter followers, has tweeted more than 8,000 times – seeking for the electorate’s votes, while some of them are also geared towards “attacking” the PDP.

For instance, the party had tweeted during the week that, “How time flies, President GoodLuck Jonathan has 11,666,000 seconds left in Aso rock. Retweet if you agree.”

The tweet had more than 200 retweets and about 20 favourites.

The APC seems to be using the service more frequently than the PDP, which has less than 2,000 tweets.

Meanwhile, Buhari has said he would create time to read through the comments and observations of his fans via his Facebook page as he contests against President Jonathan in next month’s election.

“I take note of every comment, suggestion and feedback you give me. Please keep them coming. Thank you for your support,” he wrote on Facebook.

The APC presidential candidate also said he would work with all Nigerians irrespective of religious or ethnic backgrounds to “help make our societies more compassionate, more just and more equitable.”

Likewise, President Jonathan has also been using the social media platform to say he would not renege on his efforts aimed at making Nigeria a reference point in the comity of nations.

He claimed that Nigeria was witnessing a revolution in the railway sector, adding that his administration’s desire to link the nation’s commercial and administrative capitals was receiving global affirmation.

He wrote on his Facebook page recently, “This forward march to progress will continue, with your cooperation, until Nigeria’s infrastructure, be they roads, schools, airports or hospitals, are listed as among the best in the world.

“And by God’s grace, this will happen in the not too distant future. I will never let you down even as I promise to build on the progress already made. May God bless you all and may He also bless our Motherland, Nigeria. Forward Nigeria!”

Aside the two presidential contestants, other officials, chieftains and contestants on the platforms of the two major parties have been using the social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, to seek the people’s support.

Some of the social media-friendly politicians include Buhari’s running mate Yemi Osinbajo; former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed; APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; APC and PDP governorship candidates in Lagos State, Akin Ambode and Jimi Agbaje respectively; the Special Assistant to the President on New Media, Reno Omokri; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, among others.

Voters are daily bombarded with messages and posts requesting for support in the general elections.

It is perhaps commendable to say that the Independent National Electoral Commission, with a following of 160,000 on Twitter, has also been using the platform to inform and educate the electorate on voting in next month’s elections.

Despite the new way the parties and politicians have been campaigning through the social media, analysts have said that its effectiveness has not been fully harnessed in political campaigning in Nigeria.

This is because massive use of posters and flyers, and in some cases employment of celebrities for television adverts and artistes for radio jingles are still the order of the day.

Some parties and contestants have totally ignored the Internet and social media in campaigning to the Nigerian youths, who make up a large percentage of the country’s online population.

Meanwhile, a research firm which focuses on youth and participatory politics, MacArthur Network, reported that young people who are engaged politically online are twice more likely to vote than those who are not.

According to Information Technology analysts, the 2008 and 2012 campaigns of the United States President Barack Obama made history not only because he was the first African-American to be elected a US President, but because he was the first presidential candidate to effectively use the social media as a major campaign strategy.

In the 2012 US presidential election, 30 per cent of online users reported that they were urged to vote via social media by family, friends or other social network connections.

Twenty per cent posted their decision to vote for Obama online and 22 per cent posted their decisions when they voted.

This was also the case in the India 2014 elections where social media was pivotal in the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

With these statistics, analysts are of the opinion that social media should be encouraged in political campaigning in Nigeria.

An Information Technology expert, Mr. Babawale Ojoye, told Saturday PUNCH that an effective social media campaign is based on the psychology of social behaviour and not the technology in itself.

Ojoye said social media is about people and building relationships with them, which then allows a platform that creates a behavioural pattern and makes it a viable tool in creating awareness for a political brand.

And contrary to the feeling that social media causes civic disengagement, statistics have shown that 66 per cent of social media users actively engage in political activism online.

An IT analyst, Mr. Matthew Oladipo, also said that the type of messages parties and politicians post on the social media could either make or break unity among the electorate.

He said, “We have about 80 million Nigerian youths, many of whom are users of social media. As the platform can liberate, it can also break our unity. Politicians have to find a way to make the social media foster unity in the country.

“They should learn not to post offensive or inciting statements because that is not what we need.

“In fact, I find it weird that these parties majorly post to solicit for Nigerians’ support, without actually telling us what they plan to do when they get elected except for a few of them.

“I believe it is time for political aspirants, in Nigeria, to really understood the importance of social media to their campaign successes.”

Oladipo, however, commended the adaptation of Nigerian politicians to the global trend.

He said that the platform allowed politicians to communicate faster and reach citizens in a more targeted manner, and vice versa, without the intermediate role of the mass media, while stating other benefits.

Through the platform, reactions, feedback, conversations and debates are generated online as well as support and participation for offline events.

Messages posted to personal networks are multiplied when shared, which allow new audiences to be reached.

Also, the social media has reshaped structures and methods of contemporary political communication by influencing the way politicians interact with citizens and each other.

In addition, he advised every politician and party to learn to use the social media because the reach is huge, as it appeals more to the youths who prefer it as tool for engagement.

Oladipo concluded that the winners in next month’s general elections are the contestants who have found the means of reaching to the soul of the electorate through the social media, among other engagement means.

                        Source: Punch