A DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE FOR POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This was a discursive analysis of social media usage for political communication in Nigeria. It was argued that four key stakeholders in the electoral process (the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), politicians/political parties, the electorate, and Civil Society Organizations) made extensive use of social media during the 2011 and the 2015 elections in Nigeria. Each of these stakeholders used the social media to achieve a number of interrelated objectives. Based on the arguments, it is concluded that social media platforms have fundamentally aided political communication in Nigeria. The government, politicians and political parties, INEC, the electorate and relevant NGOs and many other stakeholders now massively use the social media to communicate political information to their relevant target audience. This has improved Nigeria’s political system.