Abstract
Social media and its networking sites have become beneficial to society. With the advent of the web 2.0 many people are becoming technologically savvy and attracted to internet-based activities.With the click of a button, users are now sharing more information on topics, events and issues more than before. A new phenomenon in the Ghanaian journalism sphere is the advent of blogger and citizen journalism, some of whom have become niche authorities. Niche authorities have emerged through the habitual and persistent curation of news on specific topics, resulting in the steady growth and emergence of valuable contributions to news sharing. Minimal studies have been conducted on niche authorities and their role in social activism in Ghana. This study, anchored on Cialdini’s Six Principles of Persuasion (reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity) explores the features of niche authorities, their areas of expertise as well as their authoritative voices in the curation of news stories. Using qualitative content analysis, cyber ethnography and thematic analysis of purposively sampled social media posts of five niche authorities, the study interrogates how these niche authorities employ the six principles of persuasion on their platforms to spark conversations on development, social inclusion and gender-based issues in the country. This study discusses how niche authorities deploy the principles in social activism and further recommends the nurturing and mentoring communication strategies to progressively guide the youth to become future niche authorities in news curation and news sharing.
Presenters
Akosua Asantewaa AnaneLecturer, Development Communication, University of Education, Winneba, Central, Ghana
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
NICHE AUTHORITIES, SOCIAL ACTIVISM, SOCIAL MEDIA, CIALDINI’S SIX PRINCIPLES OF PERSUASION, NEWS CURATION
