EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE VOTING BEHAVIOUR OF VOTERS IN NIGERIA A CASE STUDY OF UGHELLI METROPOLIS
ABSTRACT
This study examines the effects of social media on the voting behaviour of voters in Nigeria; a case study of Ughelli Metropolis. The research focuses on the; various types of social media platforms used in Ughelli Metropolis, influence of social media on voter’s behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis, effect of social media on voter behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis, and other factors that influence voter behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis. It also discovered in repeated studies that not much has been done in the aspect of linking social media with voting behavior of voters. Studies have shown that social media have greatly influenced the voting behavior of voters in Nigeria hence it has little or no attention in educational discourse and consideration. A total of 100 questionnaires was administered to the respondents in the study area using the simple random sampling techniques. The research questions designed to guide this study were also answered and the hypothesis tested accordingly. The result of the findings indicates that there is significant difference in the various types of social media platforms used in Ughelli Metropolis. The result of the findings also shows that social media has significant influence on voter’s behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis. The study concluded that other factors have significant influence on voter’s behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis. It was recommended that Social media should be used to create positive awareness and campaign opportunities on voter’s participation in electoral processes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE - - - - - - - ii
DECLARATION - - - - - - - - iii
CERTIFICATION - - - - - - - - iv
DEDICATION - - - - - - - - v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - - - - - - vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study - - - - - 1
1.2 Statement of Problem - - - - - - 8
1.3 Objective of the Study - - - - - - 10
1.4 Research Questions- - - - - - - 11
1.5 Statement of the Hypothesis - - - - - 12
1.6 Significance of Study - - - - - - 13
1.7 Scope of the Study - - - - - - 14
1.8 Definition of Key Terms - - - - - 15
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction - - - - - - - - 18
2.2 Conceptual Framework - - - - - - 33
2.3 Theoretical Framework - - - - - - 45
2.4 Empirical Review - - - - - - - 50
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design - - - - - - 56
3.2 Population of the Study - - - - - - 57
3.3 Sample Size - - - - - - - - 57
3.4Sampling Technique - - - - - - 58
3.5 Method of Data Collection - - - - - 58
3.6 Technique for Data Analysis - - - - - 59
3.7 Model Specification and Variable Definition - - 59
3.8 Measurement of Variables - - - - - 59
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
4.1 Presentation of Data - - - - - - 60
4.2 Discussion of Findings - - - - - - 79
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary - - - - - - - - 80
5.2 Conclusion - - - - - - - 80
5.3 Recommendations - - - - - - - 93
References - - - - - - - - 95
Appendix - - - - - - - - 98
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Social media are interactive technologies that allow the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks (Marris, 2020). The social media platforms include; Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube. Facebook is an American technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook is a popular global social networking service. It is one of the world's most valuable companies. It is considered one of the Big Five companies in U.S. information technology, with Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon (Zuckerberg, 2004). Facebook offers other products and services beyond its social networking platform, including Facebook Messenger, Facebook Watch, and Facebook Portal. It also has acquired Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, Giphy and Mapillary, and has a 9.9% stake in Jio Platforms (Zuckerberg, 2019). Telegram is a freeware, cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging software and application service. The service also provides end-to-end encrypted video calling, VoIP, file sharing and several other features (Eduardo, 2020). WhatsApp Messenger is an American freeware, cross-platform centralized messaging and voice-over-IP service owned by Facebook, Inc. It allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. YouTube is an online video platform owned by Google. It is the second most-visited website in the world. In 2019, more than 500 hours of video content were uploaded to YouTube servers every minute (Wikipedia, 2021). Twitter is an American microblogging and social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like and retweet tweets, but unregistered users can only read them (Wikipedia, 2021).
The influence of the use of social media on voting behavior has recently become more visible than before. Stakeholders in several democracies have since harnessed the utility of social media in their electoral process. Marris (2020) noted that social media have a significant potential to promote political participation and a potential to influence the turnout of voters as it is a major tool which enable citizens to talk about the issues of day to day life and also issue of national importance such as election. Adebayo (2021) discovered that most of the voters in Lagos State used social media for election purpose in which they received messages directly from elections political campaigns during election which influenced their attitudes in favorable ways.
According to Stephan (2021), social media can reduce political participation and thus affect legislation in labor and other areas. Social media has transformed the way voters access and receive political information, such that it has circumvented the filtering of information previously undertaken by editorial offices. Consequently, consumers have had to learn how to filter relevant information themselves. The introduction phase of the social media coincided with a decreasing voter turnout, possibly due to “information overload” or less-focused political information. However, the subsequent rise of social media may help reverse the negative effect on turnout. But this poses challenges for regulatory policy. Understanding the internet’s effects on the consumption of information is also relevant for how voters view labor policies. The emergence of social media has created new participation and dissemination platforms. More competition in the media market might imply less filtering by editorial offices and less pre-selection of information since the social media can provide direct and cheap access to a large pool of information (Brader, 2016).
Social media had change the way people communicate with each other. In previous years traditional media play a significant role in creating awareness among people but over period of time social media become important marketing tool which not only aware people but help to attract them. Politicians are becoming more and more active on social media. Electoral system of any given country plays a fundamental role in sustaining and shaping the political conduct of its citizens. The manner of conduct of election in a country goes a long way to determine the level of political culture, political participation, good governance and sustainable development in the country. Adebayo (2021) asserted that electoral system must be reformed to have good governance and sustainable development in Nigeria and that there is need for the establishment of electoral offences court.
Faber, et al. (2015) noted that, social media is the new mass medium that affects many aspects of everyday life. Empirical evidence during the initial phase of the internet suggests that a “crowding-out” of political information occurred, which affected voter turnout. The introduction of interactive social media and “user-defined” content appears to have reversed this, but there is a downside: voters can now be personally identified and strategically influenced by targeted information. Regulating the internet may be necessary, but it can also stifle innovation. Therefore, policymakers should consider introducing measures to educate voters to become more discriminating in their use of social media. Furthermore, social media has made voters privy to any kind of information about politicians and their lives as there are no longer any isolated places or hiding holes. The private and public lives of society’s most influential figures including politicians have been made public online. This is because in today’s world, once a politician declares for a post, his entire life including his educational background, his family, his job and any past mistakes or excesses are made public on social media platforms for people to comment, discuss and publicly judge. Many politicians have been found in compromising positions with their words or phrase taken out of context and magnified to huge proportions by opposition parties in order to discredit them (Prat and Strömberg, 2013).
Many atimes, people go to the extent of recording private conversations or actions of these candidates and make the recorded audio or video public on various social media platforms such as Youtube quickly, with a view to elicit response and vicious backlash from voters and other online users. The belief is that it will go a long way in influencing voter’s behaviour and turning such voter against the candidate since the voter can now judgmentally make decisions about the candidate based on what he said, did or other information about him or her. Even though, such information are refuted sometimes by the concerned party or individual, it remains valid in the minds of many voters who may have made up their mind already or simply are not aware of the true situation (Stromberg, 2014).
The rise of social media, such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Telegram, and Youtube in the later 2000s, along with politicians actively using social media to disseminate information, re-connected voters to the political debate. Previous studies have shown that social networking has a powerful influence on voters, but much is not known about the mechanisms of network influence especially on how social media can affect voting behaviour. It is against this background this study is conducted to examine the effect of social media on the voting behaviour of voters in Nigeria (A case study of Ughelli Metropolis).
Statement of the Problem
It has been discovered that social media has helped in increasing the popularity of candidates and their parties. However, it is pertinent to note that social media has the capacity to make or mar their chances and voter’s perception of the party or candidates. Rumors, falsehood, propaganda and derogatory information about individual candidates or parties are commonplace online and spread faster than anticipated, often with disastrous outcomes. This is largely attributed to the lack of editorial filtering, and the anonymity of most online users. The internet encourages anonymity of its users, which means that those who write and comment often use nicknames or aliases. Hence, anonymity provides an excellent opportunity for writing false stories or spreading rumors about candidates and their parties and this often leads to rancor fear and anxiety of opposition parties.
This has a huge influence on voter behaviour, as most voters who read stories online have a tendency to believe such stories without crosschecking facts and take decisions based on this propaganda. This is a widely known fact among political parties and they use it to their advantage in bringing down their opponents. Previous research (such as; Prat and Stromberg, 2013, Stromberg, 2014, Faber, et al., 2014, Brader, 2016) has found that it is possible to influence a person’ attitudes toward a political candidate using carefully crafted information about such candidate online, which in turn may influence the voter’s behavior towards the candidate. Social media can also be used by various parties to propagate false news and propaganda about the opposition in order to disfavor such party or candidate in the eyes of the electorates while exonerating theirs. This has a huge influence on voter behaviour as many voters make decisions based on such news they read online. This study therefore seeks to address the numerous problems associated with the effect of social media on voting behaviour of voters in Ughelli Metropolis.
Purpose of the Study
The general objective of this study is to determine the effect of social media on the voting behaviour of voters in Nigeria (A case study of Ughelli Metropolis). The specific objectives are;
i. To identify the various types of social media platforms used in Ughelli Metropolis.
ii. To find out if social media influences voter behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis.
iii. To determine the effect of social media on voter behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis.
iv. To find out other factors that influence voter behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis.
Research Questions
i. What are the various types of social media platforms used in Ughelli Metropolis?
ii. What are the influence of social media on voters behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis?
iii. What other factors influences voter’s behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis?
Research Hypotheses
In order to achieve the above stated objectives, the following hypotheses will be tested:
i. There is no significant difference in the various types of social media platforms used in Ughelli Metropolis.
ii. Social media has no significant influence on voter’s behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis.
iii. Other factors has no significant influence on voter’s behaviour in Ughelli Metropolis.
Significance of the Study
This study will help beam the searchlight on the effect of social media on the voting behaviour of voters in Nigeria. It will provide useful information on the impact of social media on voter’s behaviour, the decisions they make and elections as a whole based on the information available to voters on the social media. It will also enlighten relevant stakeholders such as political parties, candidates, and even the civil society on how social media can bring about awareness and campaign opportunities if properly utilized. This research study will help stakeholders understand that maintaining a good and healthy profile online with a cordial relationship between the party and voters can positively influence voter’s behaviour. Lastly, this research work will add to the body of knowledge on the already existing scholarly materials on the impact of social media on voter’s behaviour.
Scope/Limitation of Study
This study will examine the effect of social media on the voting behaviour of voters in Nigeria (A case study of Ughelli Metropolis) with special reference to the actual influence it has on vote’s behaviour either positive or negative and the factors determining the behaviour and attitudes that an ordinary voter adopts based on available information gotten online.
Operational Definition of Terms
Behaviour: is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals in conjunction with themselves or their environment.
Campaign: an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a political group.
Election: the formal process of selecting a person for public office or of accepting or rejecting a political proposition by voting.
Internet: an interconnected group of computer networks allowing for electronic communication.
Social media: are computer mediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas and pictures/videos in virtual communities and online networks e.g Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Telegram.
Voter: a person who has attained the voting age and has the right to vote for a candidate in an election.
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