The political power of social media in Nigeria: A case study of the 2014 #Bringbackourgirls campaign

The role of social media in politics has been notable in many countries over the years. The Arab Spring is one of the significant incidents that exemplified how powerful social media can be on national politics. With the help of social media, citizens were able to mobilize each other and overthrow authoritarian regimes. And since then, there have been many debates about the ability of social media to create a more democratic society. In the year 2014, a campaign began on Twitter with #Bringbackourgirls after the abduction of over 250 schoolgirls in Chibok, a community in Northeast Nigeria. The campaign which started as a local Nigerian affair eventually spread like wildfire around the world. It was a turning point because that was the first case of online activism that galvanized attention within and outside the country. This study looked to examine how mobilizers who participated in the #Bringbackourgirls campaign and are known for active media presence consider the political power of social media. The research question to be answered is: How do grassroots social mobilizers in the 2014 Nigerian #Bringbackourgirls campaign perceive the political power of social media? The question was answered by interviewing 11 mobilizers with renowned social media presence, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews. The thematic analysis was deductive based on previous studies conducted on the role of social media in activism and social movements. The results of the study yielded that; the participants perceive social media as a platform to pressure the Nigerian government into taking actions that favor the citizens. This point is characterized by the emphasis they laid on compelling the Nigerian government to rescue the girls as their aim of using social media during the campaign. Also, they regard social media as a facilitator of strong collective action, and a platform to create collective identity despite the religious and ethnic diversity in Nigeria. And lastly, as means to mobilize people quickly as well as garner support for the campaign. They also mentioned factors such as digital divide, vulnerability to attacks and weak ties as drawbacks to the political power of social media.