Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of social media platforms on electoral politics in Nigeria. It examines how Nigerians engaged social media platforms to ensure effective participation in the 2015 Presidential Election. While the paper acknowledges the fundamental role of elections in democracies and the critical role the media play in elections – coverage/reportage, it contends that in playing a central role in national politics, the Nigerian media have engaged in a broad spectrum of malpractices and unprofessional conduct. For instance, government-owned media have been used by incumbent administrations to harass, intimidate, and malign opponents at the slightest provocation; this is in addition to the fact that opposition parties are denied access to media facilities for electioneering campaign programmes (Jibo, 2003; Iwokwagh, 2011). The media have also been used to manipulate and mislead the electorate in favour of the government in power through the use of such unethical practices as selective reporting, reporting out of context and outright falsehood (Atim, 2010). In the light of the foregoing, opposition parties and the electorates have become disenchanted and disillusioned with media coverage and reports of elections and electioneering campaigns in Nigeria. This phenomenon has influenced the search for alternative media of expression and participation in political campaigns and elections. This paper, therefore, examines how the Nigerian electorate engaged the social media to address the problem of information inequality and in the formation and shaping of public opinion in the 2015 presidential election in the country.