Social media and political participation in Nigeria: examining the use of Twitter in election campaigning

The integration of social media to election campaign is not new in Nigeria. What is new is the degree at which political parties and political aspirants have integrated social media into their election campaign processes in recent times. What is also new is the change in the adoption of social media in election campaigning: from one which was majorly top-to-bottom to bottom-to-top. In the foregoing regard, this study critically examines the various ways Twitter was used during the 2022/23 presidential elections in Nigeria. Employing mixed methods, the study shows that during the presidential elections, Twitter was used by election actors for voters’ education and mobilization, campaign trail updates, funds mobilization, reputation management and damage control. Despite the enormous usefulness of Twitter during the campaign, the study observes new challenges facing the integration of technology into politics and political participation in Nigeria. Such challenges include the misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and algorithms in accessing users’ data, and amplifying the extant problems of hate speech, fake news, and propaganda during and after election periods. The study opines that, while AI is an amazing innovation and can be rightly employed in enhancing political participation in Nigeria, its misuse could be disastrous for Nigeria’s fragile democracy. Consequent upon this, the researcher recommends that non-legal approaches should be employed to addressing the problem. Among other things, the Nigerian government should introduce robust sensitization programmes geared towards creating awareness regarding the issues of fake news and hate speech and how ordinary citizens can contribute to curbing them.