Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Social media is fast gaining currency as a political tool for campaign in Nigeria since it was first introduced into the country’s political scene in 2011. This study, using content analysis of the Facebook pages of the two front runners in the 2015 presidential elections, understudies the use of social media networking by political practitioners in Nigeria. Prior to the 2015 general elections, President Goodluck Jonathan had over 2.2 million followers on Facebook while his opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari had over 686,000 followers. The study shows how each of the candidates used campaign tools on Facebook during the campaign period and found out that both candidates employed similar strategies to reach out to their numerous supporters. However, the outcome of the election indicates that the social media follower-ship in Nigeria does not provide evidence of success or winner-ship. The most pronounced trend of their posts was the promotion of their candidacy, even though it was found that General Muhammadu Buhari was more aggressive on Facebook, most times deploying aggression and evoking fear appeal in the effort to unseat the incumbent president.