Published: 11/08/2022 @BlogSpotMedia
Experts have said we are living in the information age, information today is communicated in different languages and conveyed through various mediums. It is knowledge communicated and received through several mediums of dissemination.
There are several means of information dissemination, our focus for the sake of this discussion is social media as a means of disseminating or/and communicating, the impact of social media in our society and the influence/power of social media as a tool of communication among the youths.
We will examine the role of social media as a digital platform for youths to communicate and receive information as Nigeria heads to the polls in 2023.
The 2023 elections in Nigeria will no doubt be highly influenced by the youths, thanks to the various social media platforms on which information is not only conveyed and received but readily available.
Nigerian youths represents about 79% of the total registered voting population. About 40% of this figure are active on social media. It is no surprise that more than 50% of the total registered voting population in the country are youths.
The reason for this as monitored by BlogSpotMedia on various social media platforms is the awareness among the youths that ‘there is no polling unit on social media’ except the numerous discussions about the 2023 election is all a clout, yet social media has provided the needed platform for youths across the country to congregate, share opinions and important information such as the fact that only with a permanent voters card (PVC) will they be able to exercise their rights to choose and decide who leads the country.
Without doubt, social media has greatly influenced the registered number of youths that will vote in 2023.
The increasing rate of unemployment, crime rate and low minimum wage is synonymous but not limited to the youths. The frustration of the youths who felt they have been marginalized in a way or the other is evidenced in discussions across social media platforms, discussions about how the youths can secure a better future for themselves. Most of what is being discussed among youths on social media is how the government has failed them and why they won’t hesitate to exercise their voting right to vote in a candidate they feel will do the most for the nation, especially the youths.
It is important to note that the issue of unemployment, crime and low minimum wage in the country is a recurring one which every government in Nigeria in the past have had to struggle to curtail.
The country is at a point where the real issues have to be separated from the distractions if the electorates/ youths will effect any meaningful/ positive change with the ballot in 2023. Thankfully, social media has offered a leverage for youths to connect and share information that will shape their future by the decisions they make with the ballot.
The real issues are; who is capable of managing a delicate economy towards prosperity? which of the candidates can the people trust to formulate and implement policies that will boost the economy? who will reform the education sector? who is that man that will innovate and create lasting jobs for the unemployed youths? and most importantly which of the candidates is capable of managing a very limited resources to do the most in a period of 4 years without excessive loans in a country with overstretched debt profile? Who will be able to set the stage and forge a new path to prosperity for the country?
The answer to these questions is within the Nigerian youths whom with the ballot can decide who is right to lead the nation to the desired path.
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