Facebook and Governance: Audience Perception, Believability and Use of Its Political Messages in Anambra State

Abstract

There is no doubt that the new media heralded a dawn of technological advancement which certainly altered the way things were done in the media realm, this change did not only affect the way news and other media products are packaged, but the relationship between media and politics, political campaigns, issues of governance and so on. Interestingly, Facebook, one of the popular platforms of social media has been identified as a tool for political participation. Using a survey of 400 persons drawn from Anambra State as a focal point, the researchers examined the audience perception, believability and the extent of use of political messages on the Facebook. The study came up with the following findings: that the audience in Anambra state relied on the Facebook as a source of political messages, that they did not perceive these political messages from the Facebook as credible, and/or reflection of what they say, but more as propaganda statements. That Facebook users in Anambra State do not believe these political messages and finally that they employed the Facebook particularly as a tool for accessing political information and at other time for political education. The study is significant in that it will serve as a mirror to the political class on the effect of their various political messages on facebook. The study recommended among others that the political class while using facebook for political communication should repackage the contents to look credible and believable like those on the mainstream media.