INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ON THE CHOICE OF CANDIDATES AMONG THE UNDERGRADUATES OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN IN THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTION
| Format: Ms Word | 1-5 Chapters | Table of Content|
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Title page – | – – – – – – – – i |
| Declaration – | – – – – – – – – ii |
| Certification – | – – – – – – – – iii |
| Dedication – | – – – – – – – – iv |
| Acknowledgements | – – – – – – – – v |
| Table of Contents | – – – – – – – – vi |
| List of Tables- | – – – – – – – – viii |
Abstract – – – – – – – – – ix
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
- Background of the Study – – – – – – 1
- Statement of Problem- – – – – – – 4
- Objectives of Study – – – – – – – 5
- Research Questions – – – – – – – 6
- Scope of the Study – – – – – – – 6
- Significance of the Study – – – – – – 7
- Definition of Terms – – – – – – – 8
CHAPTERTWO: Review of Related Literature
- Historical Review of Social Media – – – – – 9
- Historical Review of Social Media – – – – – 9
- Conceptual Review – – – – – – – 13
- Conceptual Review of Social media- – – – – 13
- Conceptual Review of Political Campaign – – – – 15
- Conceptual Review of Election – – – – – 16
- Conceptual Review of Electioneering – – – – 18
- Conceptual Review of Political Participation – – – 19
2 3 Opinion Review – – – – – – – 22
- 1 Social media and politics – – – – – – 22
2 3 2 The role of social media in mobilization for electoral participation- 28
- 3 The challenges in the use of social media as political platform in Nigeria 33
- EmpiricalReview – – – – – – – 36
- TheoreticalFramework – – – – – – 38
2.5. 1MediaEquationtheory – – – – – – 39
2.5 2 Vale’sPersuasionTheory – – – – – – 40
2.6 Summary- – – – – – – – – 41
CHAPTERTHREE:Methodology
| 3.1 ResearchDesign – | – – – – – – | 42 |
| 3.2 Population of the Study | – – – – – – | 43 |
| 3.3 SampleSize – – | – – – – – – | 43 |
| 3.4 SamplingTechnique- | – – – – – – | 44 |
| 3.5 InstrumentofDataCollection | – – – – – | 45 |
| 3.6 Validityof theInstrument | – – – – – – | 46 |
| 3.7 Reliabilityof the Instrument | – – – – – – | 46 |
| 3.8 MethodofData Collection | – – – – – – | 46 |
| 3.9 MethodofDataAnalysis | – – – – – – | 47 |
CHAPTERFOUR:DataPresentationandAnalysis
- DataPresentation – – – – – – – 48
- DiscussionofFindings – – – – – – 58
CHAPTERFIVE:Summary,ConclusionandRecommendations
5.1 Summary – – – – – – – – 63
5.2 Conclusion – – – – – – – – 64
- Recommendations – – – – – – 65
- Limitationsof theStudy – – – – – – 66
References – – – – – – – – 67
Appendix – – – – – – – – 71
ABSTRACT
TheCruxofthisstudywastoevaluatetheInfluenceofSocialMediaPoliticalcampaignonthechoiceofcandidateamongtheundergraduatestudentofTheUniversity of Benin in the 2023 General Election. The study was anchored on theMedia equation theory and the Vale’s Persuasion theory. The survey research method.Thus,398copiesofthequestionnairewereadministeredtoasampleof398undergraduate students of the University of Benin, Benin City. The study revealedthat majority of audience are expose to social media as a political tool and as such, hasinfluenced their choice of candidates.Many of the respondents commend mediaprojectionsbecausetheyperceivedittobeanirreplaceabletoolinPoliticalactivitiesin Nigeria and the entire work. They all are satisfy with the usage of social media inelectioneeringand political campaigns.
CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION
- BackgroundtotheStudy
Political campaigns are increasingly reliant on internet communication tools to obtain support in the current digital era. Social media in particular has the power to limit the reach of politics, yet online campaigning may be just as damaging as it is beneficial (Egbulefu & Nwaoboli, 2023). Pătruţ (2014, p. 13) claims that social media might incite riot-like behavior since internet communication makes it simple to engage in political discourse, including contentious discussions. Social media alters how people view one another and candidates because of this simple access to political discourse.
According to Edegoh & Asemah (2014, p. 45), in addition to being utilized for national campaigns against drug misuse, traffic violations, HIV/AIDS, and other issues, the media is also used for campaigns during elections. For instance, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) heavily utilized the media during the 2011 Nigerian presidential elections. The purpose of using the media in a campaign is to persuade the public to adopt a certain viewpoint, whether it comes from the government or an individual. It is considered that the mass media are persuasive in nature.
According to Asemah (2020), who explains the importance of the media in modern society, the mass media have been and will continue to be some of the most important social factors for advancing international and national development.
mindedness. “I know that all is well if I switch off my radio and television at bedtime and wake up the next morning with the early morning news,” declared an American philosopher, one of the loudest of his day.
However, I can tell that something is wrong if, after turning off my radio and television at night, I wake up the next morning and am unable to hear or see the newspaper or magazine on the newsstand. I’ll keep worrying and wondering if the lack of mainstream media isn’t causing problems for the planet. This claim effectively conveys how important the media is to every civilization.
The social media idea, according to Ayankoya, Calitz, and Cullen (2015, p83), entails the use of web-based apps and services for communication, collaboration, content creation, and sharing by both people and groups. Social media primarily focuses on the communication that occurs, the manner in which it occurs, and the connections that grow out of these communications. Social media enables people and organizations to create, preserve, and maintain connections with a network of other people and people who share interests (Ayankoya, 2015, p. 17).
Today, social media has developed into a potent tool for both political campaigning and social contact (Arijeniwa & Nwaoboli, 2023). It has remained politically relevant on a worldwide scale. In comparison to traditional media like television, radio, or newspapers, it has made political engagement simple and cost-effective. When planning political rallies, campaigns, and vote lobbying, it has more advantages than traditional tactics (Arijeniwa & Nwaoboli, 2023). Due to this, social media has become a new area of academic study for the majority of students, with mass communication students being particularly interested in researching its effects on election campaigns.
The roles that social media played and the ways in which it affected the results of the elections, however, made the 2011 general elections the first of their sort. Locally and globally, praise has been given to the recent 2015 general elections that resulted in Muhammadu Buhari becoming president of Nigeria, hailing it as the greatest historic transfer of power in the world’s most populous black nation (The Daily Times, 2015). Even while social media may have some drawbacks, its ability to be quick and convenient makes it possible for citizens to participate in politics more easily. Through their many social media channels, it is utilized to motivate and appeal to people to register to vote, support candidates, and ultimately cast ballots on election day.
This provides social media a powerful stage for all electoral participants to demonstrate their political acumen using cutting-edge techniques made possible by internet services. Social media has without a doubt become a crucial tool for electioneering, including voter registration, voter card collection, party activities, election campaigns, voting on election day, as well as other associated activities, due to its participatory, interactive, and cost-effective character.
Every political party in Nigeria is using social media to organize and promote their campaigns, reach out to followers, mobilize in all the states of the federation, raise money, and more (Nwaoboli, 2023b). Voters can learn how each party or particular candidate feels about significant national problems, such as power and security, by visiting Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, in particular. As a result, social media has been even more effective in campaigning for the 2023 elections than it was in the general elections of 2011, 2015, and 2019 (Nwaoboli & Ajibulu, 2023).As fewer voters who are unsure of who to vote for started to change their thoughts and conscience on voting a particular party or candidate based on certain facts or ideas they acquired online about the party or candidate, it has become only enough to influence voters’ judgments and choices.
A media campaign is also viewed by Edegoh and Asemah (2014, p. 45) as the collection of actions taken to achieve a particular goal. In light of this context, the current study will emphasize how social media political campaigns influenced University of Benin undergraduates’ choice of candidates for the general election of 2023.
StatementoftheProblem
Realizing what may have been perceived as the influence of social media, itbecomes necessary to understand the level of success or extent in which Nigeriaelectorateshavebeeninvolvedincreatingandsharingpoliticalinformationinthe
form of campaigns; using social media platforms to influence the choice of candidatesin2023 general electionsin Nigeria.
Incidentally,inNigeria,theeverydayuseofsocialmediabypoliticians,andthe manner in which the user-citizen interacts with the social network sites/pages ofpoliticianshasreceivedratherlessattention.Essentially,politiciansexpectthecommunicationrelationshiptobepositiveandofbenefittothem,thus,politicalgladiatorsofallshadesofopinions,ideologies,intentsandgoalsusethemediawiththe belief that political communication through them might exert pressure or have aninfluenceon people‟sperception andbehaviours.
Theforegoingnotwithstanding,thisstudyintendstoinvestigatetheinfluenceof the social media as a tool used in convincing youths to participate in elections vis-à-vis whether or not social media is actually instrumental in projecting a positive imageoftheirchoiceof political candidates.
Despite the advantages in the adoption of social media in Nigerian politicalcampaigns and elections, the worries regarding the respondents‟ level of exposure tosocial media political platforms, their knowledge and effective use of such platforms,as well as the influence of such platform messages on electorates‟ voting pattern,promptedthis study.
1.1 Objectivesof theStudy
Theobjectives of this studyareto:
- DeterminetheextenttowhichUNIBENundergraduatesareexposedtosocialmediapolitical campaigns.
- DeterminethechannelsthroughwhichtheundergraduatesofUniversityofBeninareexposedto social mediapolitical campaigns.
- DeterminetheinfluenceofsocialmediapoliticalcampaignonthechoiceofcandidatesamongUNIBEN undergraduates.
- DeterminetheinfluenceofsocialmediapoliticalcampaignonUNIBENundergraduates‟participationinthe2023Nigeriageneral elections.
1.2 ResearchQuestions
Thefollowingresearchquestionsweredesigntoguidethestudy.
- TowhatextentareUNIBENundergraduatesexposedtosocialmediapoliticalcampaigns?
- ThroughwhatchannelsaretheundergraduatesofUniversityofBeninexposedtosocial media political campaigns.
- WhatistheinfluenceofsocialmediapoliticalcampaignonthechoiceofcandidatesamongUNIBEN undergraduates?
- DoesthesocialmediapoliticalcampaigninfluenceUNIBENundergraduatesparticipationin the2023 Nigeriageneralelections.
1.3 Significance of the Study
Firstly, the significance of this study will be found in the gap it fills by answering its research questions.
Secondly, the research will be of immense benefit to University of Benin students,politicians,political parties,media consultants,electoral umpires and government across all levels as it will help them to know and appreciate the gains and efficacy of using social media as a tool for political campaign and how best to handle it for projecting the image of their clients and increasing awareness of the political candidates.
The findings of this study will contribute to the sustainable development of democracy in Nigeria. The youth; in which a significant number of UNIBEN undergraduates belong to, are the future and drivers of any country, therefore conducting researches/studies into their political, social behavior is of paramount importance(Adedeji, 2015, p16).
Finally, this study will be of great benefit to researchers and other seekers of knowledge in the academia, as it will contribute to the existing literature on usefulness of social media political campaign on the choice of candidates, politics in general, and also widen the current expansive knowledge in it.
1.4 Scope of the Study
This study aims to examine the influence of the use of social media as a political/mobilization tool on the choice of candidates of Nigerian youths. Only undergraduate students of the University of Benin from the ages of 15years through 29 shall be polled. This study will examine the political participation of the aforementioned youths for the 2023 general elections only.
This study will focus on undergraduate students of the University of Benin, Benin City, with the aim of determining how social media political campaign influences their perception/choice of political candidates and their participation in elections. The undergraduate students of the University of Benin are students currently undergoing their first degrees in the institution.
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