Social Media and Nigeria's Politics

Abstract

The robust contributions of social media to Nigeria's politics cannot be underestimated. The increase in the informal flow of information on social media has reduced the existing gap between leaders and the electorate. This chapter analyzes the effect of social media in a democratic society like Nigeria. It explains the importance of social media in politics and the inherent issues in its adoption in the Nigeria experience. Existing research on social media and politics tend to focus on finding out how social media has marred Nigeria's politics. However, there is little evidence of scholars' presenting robust findings of the impact of social media on presenting a robust framework landscape. Consequently, the chapter provides insights on how social media has impacted Nigeria's politics. Furthermore, it critically analyzes and dissects the synergy between social media and politics, democracy, political mobilization, political education, and political advertising.