ADOPTING SOCIAL MEDIA AS INSTRUMENTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Although the social media have the potential to substantially supplement the mass media, it is yet to be clearly seen, how they can lead themselves readily to use for engendering good governance. Social media, which are interchangeably used with social networking sites (SNS), such as MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter could change personal discussions and individual’s opinions into a topic of public debate and secure support for clamour for good governance like that of the Arab Springs. The social media platform enables citizens to participate in governance through views expressed and shared. The social media have been used in the western countries for example to check, monitored, and ensure responsibility and accountability on the part of public office holders. However, this had not been the case in Nigeria. The study examines the usefulness of the social media as instruments to promote good governance in Nigeria. The study anchored on the theory of public sphere, which explain how the public issues are discussed as a sphere. Through review of related literature, the study showed that majority of social media users in Nigeria direct most of their attention to social issues namely relationships, personal issues, celebrities, sports but with little focus to governance. The study however, recommends that users of social media platform should develop aggressive campaigns for good governance and sustainable development.