AUDIENCE MOBILIZATION? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDENTS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS’ RESPONSE TO POLITICAL FACEBOOK MESSAGES

Abstract

The 2023 Nigerian general elections, was heavily contested. There was an aggressive use of the social media especially Facebook by contestants and supporters to canvass for votes, influence public opinion, among other reasons. This study compared the Students and Civil Servants’ response to political Facebook messages. This was aimed at determining whether and how the two groups are mobilized via political Facebook massages and how they use the platforms to mobilize others. The study employed a mix of Survey and Focus Group Discussion. The public sphere theory as espoused by Jurgen habermas in 2006 was found suitable as the study framework which argues that the public sphere is a notional ‘space’ that provides a more or less autonomous and open arena or forum for public debate. Survey design was employed and the questionnaire served as the instrument for data collection. The study Population is comprised of both Civil Servants in Anambra State and Undergraduate students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. While the population of Anambra State Civil Servants comprises of a total of 197, 853 workforce, Undergraduate Regular students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University is made up of an estimated population of over 35,000 students. Hence the overall population of the Study is 232,853 persons from the two separate groups. The study found that all the respondents utilize Facebook and are exposed to political messages therein. It was established in this study that some respondents from the two groups utilize Facebook for political communication, engage in political campaigns, share their views about political activities and also form coalitions to achieve any given political aspirations or goals.  Some (40%) find some of the messages persuasive, though a greater number of them find them irritating (80%). It is remarkable that the students engage more on Facebook, but not mainly for aim of sharing political information, while the civil servants who are not always online are the ones mainly spreading political messages on the platform. The two groups are generally active on Facebook and had recognized the platform as an open and unrestricted arena where users obtain, create and share political information.