Social Media and Electioneering Campaign in the 2015 Presidential Election in Nigeria: A Study of Facebook and Twitter

Abstract

The paper sought to examine social media and electioneering campaign in the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria: a study of Facebook and Twitter. To achieve this, three research questions and three objectives were set out to guide the study. The research instrument used was the questionnaire. One hundred and sixty (160) copies of questionnaire were administered to the sampled population who were residents of Calabar. The paper employed two theories to back up its views, the theories were uses and gratification and the social impact theories. The findings reveal that social media played both positive and negative roles during the 2015 presidential campaigns in Nigeria, determined the outcome of the 2015 presidential election in the sense that, electorate preferred and voted for the candidate who campaigned and interacted with them on social media especially, Facebook and Twitter. The study concluded that the people depended so much on the social media for information and news update during the campaigns and eventually, the election. Also, The social media played both positive and negative roles during the presidential campaign ahead of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. In contemporary time, the social media can determine the outcome of any election considering the heavy reliance of people on social media to meet their    information, educational, entertainment and other needs. The study therefore recommended that politicians and their supporters should be properly guided in their choice of words and the messages they communicate to the people during political campaigns and elections.