Tracking Social Media
The Social Media Tracking Centre and the 2011 Nigerian Elections
Shehu Musa
Yar’Adua Foundation
About the Authors
Dr. Judith Burdin Asuni is the Executive Director of Academic Associates PeaceWorks, a Nigerian NGO working in the fields of conflict management, peace and development and peace education. Dr. Asuni has researched and written extensively on conflicts in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta. AA PeaceWorks has established a social media team to engage Nigerian youth on their participation in building a better Nigeria. Mrs. Jacqueline Farris serves as Director General of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation and is also responsible for development of the Foundation’s programmes which focus on public
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Reclaimnaija, based in the Community Life Project in Lagos, linked phone calls and SMS directly to INEC’s hotlines. Project Swift Count, funded by the National Democratic Institute, deployed observers in the field, connected via SMS to a nerve centre in Abuja, complete with 36 state monitors and 6 zonal coordinators. A group of mainly Abuja-based civil society organizations established a Civil Society Election Situation Room, which received reports from the field during the election process and relayed information to INEC, the Police Service Commission and Nigeria Police. INEC’s own Situation Room engaged civil society. The Police Service Commission, Nigeria Police and Civil Defence Corps set up hotlines for reporting problems, as did the National Security Advisor to monitor incidents of violence. Political parties and politicians also employed social media to varying degrees. Traditional media, such as Channels Television with its facebook, twitter and online broadcasting, and Daily Trust and 234Next featured online and paper editions as well as facebook and twitter feeds. Suddenly the internet and phone lines were abuzz with election related activities. But what impact would any of this have on the election process? Discussion among a
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small group of participants of the March 4 roundtable resulted in the idea of setting up an independent ad hoc centre to track the use and effect of social media.
In the modern world people operate their businesses and practically live their lives through the Internet, the use of social media, and easily obtainable information. Although easy access to nearly everything and everyone has many advantages, there are plenty disadvantages that accompany social media and easily obtainable information. If the world only knew how becoming aware of the rewards and drawbacks of social media and the ability to access information with ease people may change how they practice and consume it, especially when understanding the need to further question the reliability of their sources. It is important to understand the advantages,
Today, it is very easy to obtain information of any kind. Thanks to the convergence and development of technology. “The Internet”, which today is one of the easiest ways to obtain quick information without allot of effort. There are millions of people from around the world that use the Internet as a tool to communicate, search, and find information on about any topic imaginable. (Aynur, Nejat, 2015). In this Essay on Social Media, we will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of easily obtainable information, the advantages and disadvantages of social media, and importantly how knowing of these things can alter how a person might use social media, as well as the credibility issues that arise from the information on
The fact is, the times we live in today everyone is so caught up in their phones and social media. I wish to present to you today why social media allows for quicker and easier ways to get news and why it is needed in today’s society if candidates wish to win elections.
Picture this, you just got the greatest haircut of your life. Feeling good, you take a selfie and post it on Instagram with the caption, “Feelin’ good.” A few hours later, you get a notification that someone commented on your picture. That comment reads, “You’re feeling good about THAT haircut? LOL!” You were just a victim of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is one of the many negative effects of social networking and social media on teens, and could create a situation that results in death (Mulvihill). Some people, however, claim that social media can improve teens’ knowledge of current social affairs, but others assert that the cons outweigh the pros. Although social media can inform teens
The purpose of this essay is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of obtainable information as well as the advantages and disadvantages of social media. I will also explain how knowing these advantages and disadvantages can alter how a person might use social media. The last thing I will talk about what credibility issues can arise from information on the internet.
Daily, elected leaders turn to social media to communicate, promote or update status of their daily activities. They should however adopt best practices as they do this to avoid getting themselves into trouble. One such practice is to take time to think and formulate thoughts before posting anything. They should also have strict policies in place to govern how they get word out to ensure they get out accurate and timely information. One that is free of bias and inappropriate editing. Nevertheless, they should be very selective on whom to authorize to do their posting for them. The policies they put in place should ensure adequate training and accountability to
Due to the internet growing and increasing more and more by the minute, those political organizations have tried to deal with it by getting people online to listen; this is because of the changes that are happening within different communication over the internet. Even through social network sites like twitter, Facebook had helped Barack Obama to gain more assistance and supporting with financial support to becoming president of United States of America in terms of getting more votes. However, is a disadvantage because when it came to Labour Mr MacLennan’s remarks over the network site Twitter and that this had been the case that had been explained by well-acknowledged people that things within the internet could be easily retrieved once deleted. In addition, those users should think many times
In recent years, media has gone from being used for social, political and regime changes to influencing the world and its electoral process at a global level. Due to the better connectivity of electricity and the reduced cost of internet & smart phones, citizens can connect with not only their friends and family but the world too. This leads to quite a big change in the way relations are formed and maintained (Lewis, 2014 as cited in Madar, 2017). Online media such as twitter, facebook, youtube, all have the potential to influence political discourse. In 2016, Africa, in addition to local elections, held 16 presidential elections. In addition, the power of social media was seen during the Arab Spring in 2011, in what was called a “social media revolution” (Shearlaw, 2016). Therefore I did an analysis of Africa where I discovered that because of the adverse outcomes, social media’s ability to improve our capacity to discuss politics has been detrimental and not fully taken advantage of.
It is the most effective and time efficient way to reach a large customer base. It is the best way to show your fans your business and receive their feedback. Using a social media platform is a very effective way to market your business to your advantage. Imagine launching a new product and it receives 1 million responses in a matter of minutes. That would not be possible without the many social media platforms available today.
Social media is a slippery platform of communication with others around the world and has an almost equal number of disadvantages to advantages. It allows one to release sensitive information readily available to be viewed by almost anyone. As in the case of my subordinate posting negative things about me online, I should not have accepted his/her request in the first place, for a couple of reasons. When you are the boss of someone, it is best to keep your business and personal relationship separate. If others see that you have accepted that employee as a friend, it could easily be perceived as favoritism. Not only that, now that you have access to their page, you could see something you don’t like (such as that post) and hold it against them while in the workplace. This could lead to a personal vendetta, which could likely cost them their job if they don’t tread lightly.
Social Media had significant impact on the political field. In this era when the public time and attention is increasingly directed toward platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, scholars are seeking to evaluate the still emerging relationship between social media and public engagement (Journalist's Resource). During the era where there was no technology available was only based on speeches. For example, the era of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the only way they were able to give speeches was on a podium. These emerging modes of participation might be as exceptional as the traditional offline modes of participation that are an important resort for politically active social media users to coordinate political action and to express political views. Political expression on social media has been found to positively influence other political behaviors such as traditional types of political participation, including political mobilization and electoral campaigning. Therefore, the use of social media platforms for political expression has added a new layer to the study of the political discussion. Some people even have characterized social media sites such has Facebook, Instagram and twitter more valuable to large group communication platforms. These studies have described the different communication processes and dynamics that take place on the social media sites as similar to larger online communities and groups. Because of the expansion of the media it has
Social media is now playing a large role in the lives of almost every member of today’s generation. Teenagers and young adults can not go a day without checking their friends’ Snapchat stories, Instagram posts, or tweets. These social media platforms keep everyone up-to-date with the latest news from friends and society. However, on the downside, the majority of today’s generation is not capable of having a face-to-face conversation. The many advantages and disadvantages of social media proposes a challenge for parents who are trying to decide whether apps, such as Instagram and Snapchat, are helpful or harmful to their children.
It was a sunny Monday morning in Badia West, Lagos. I was manning the emergency room that day when a group of young men brought in a man in his twenties who was severely injured. He was beaten to near comatose by the police for protesting the demolition of his father’s house. While resuscitating him and suturing his wounds, I learned firsthand the horrors that besieged the peaceful protests of the Badia East residents which turned violent. Indeed, people where thrown out of their homes, with little warning about the intended dam construction and protesters who tried to defend their ancestral homes were first shot tear gas and later fired at.
Social media channels, such as Facebook, have become a primary method of communication between individuals and companies, but are not always the most effective. Social media channels are examples of controlled media. Controlled media includes the ability to select the exact words and images that get sent. However, there is a possible disadvantage of a lack of credibility because the receivers are aware the business is controlling the message. Controlled media is also costly, especially when using advertising to send a message (Guth and Marsh).
There are many effects that stem from Internet usage. According to Nielsen, Internet users continue to spend more time with social media sites than any other type of site. For content contributors, the benefits of participating in social media have gone beyond simply social sharing to building reputation and bringing in career opportunities and monetary income, as discussed in Tang, Gu, and Whinston (2012).