A Sociological Investigation into the Influence of the New Media on Political Mobilization: A Study of Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election

Abstract

The new social media have adopted a new form of political mobilization, democracy and government which have become an effective voice for many. As a result of this new social phenomenon which has a large audience communicating with each other. Modern political parties have shifted their ground to the social media platform to create political awareness and using it as a campaign ground, a platform for raising funds for a political party and political debates in order to woo/mobilize electorates. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of the new media on political mobilization using a qualitative content analysis of some news, journals, print and electronic media message. The paper presents a situation analysis and reveals that new social media cannot be down play by politicians when it comes to the area of political mobilization because of its large audience which is about 11.2 million Nigerians. It shows that the new media have enhanced political awareness and interaction. However, politicians/political parties in Nigeria have made use of this new social media to marginalize, intimidate, and discredit political opponents which have led to verbal war/political conflicts. The paper suggests that social media providers should discourage its users from posting provocative and hate messages by blocking such messages.

Keywords: social media, political mobilization, presidential election