The Social Media and the Challenge of Freedom of Expression: a Case Study of Twitter Ban in Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The primary aim of this research is to investigate the The social media and the challenge of freedom of expression: A case study of Twitter Ban in Nigeria. Thus, the following;
- To determine the effects of Twitter ban on the residents of Bida.
- To investigate the perception of people on the Twitter ban.
- To determine the extent to which this has affected the residents of Bida.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literatures that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.
Precisely, the chapter will be considered in four sub-headings:
Conceptual Framework
Review of related literature
Theoretical Framework
Empirical Review and
Chapter Summary
REVIEW OF CONCEPTS
Twitter is a social platform that provides users to follow one other and send messages that are limited to 140 characters. Relationships on Twitter may be entirely one-sided, unlike on other social networking platforms. For example, one user may follow another without the later being obligated to follow the first. Twitter burst onto the scene in March 2006, owing to its simple user interface, which stood in sharp contrast to its rivals, who were allowing users complete customization of their personal pages at the time, resulting in a crowded, gaudy appearance (Experian, 2009).
Twitter has always welcomed third-party developers, providing a flexible application programming interface (API) and enjoying unparalleled celebrity appeal (Twitter Counter, 2010). However, despite its widespread popularity and extensive mainstream media attention, Twitter’s growth has lagged behind that of Google and Facebook after their respective first three years. Google has 18 million users, Facebook has 27 million, and Twitter has 8 million (Battelle, 2009). As Twitter approaches its fifteenth year of operation, it can no longer be considered a new kid on the block, but many people are still unsure of its purpose or if it has any value for them. It’s “for finding and sharing what’s going on in your life right now,” according to Twitter. While this is accurate, and regrettably, by its very nature, most of the material posted is ‘pointless chatter,’ it fails to see Twitter’s economic potential (Java et al., 2007).
Year after year, the internet advertising industry expands, and with technological advancements, there are now more methods than ever to advertise goods and businesses. The ‘people,’ on the other hand, now demand power, and they have the ‘acute editing abilities’ to listen to whatever messages they want to hear. With consumers’ ability to block media messages from being displayed to them, marketers must find a means to contact their customers without them realizing it is a kind of advertising.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience vis a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
According to Udoyen (2019), a study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitutes of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description.
This study was carried out to investigate The social media and the challenge of freedom of expression: A case study of Twitter Ban in Nigeria.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of two hundred and sixty-six (266) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only two hundred and fifty-nine (259) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 259 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
In this study, the focus was to carry out an investigation of the social media and the challenge of freedom of expression: A case study of Twitter Ban in Nigeria. The study specifically was aimed at ascertaining the social media and the challenge of freedom of expression and how the Twitter ban affected their lives. This study reviewed and anchored its framework on the Perception theory.
The study adopted the survey research design and randomly enrolled participants in the study. A total of 259 responses were validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were journalists in Bida Niger state.
The findings revealed that there are indeed the Twitter ban in Nigeria is a dint on the quest for freedom of expression in Nigeria .
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the responses obtained, the researcher proffers the following recommendations:
- Government should be more accountable to its citizens when making huge decisions because they do not serve themselves but the citizens as is meant to be in a democratic state.
- The Government should take down the Twitter ban and allow for freedom of expression on social media platforms without taking aggravated decisions.
- Residents of Bida should use other means and other social media platforms to pass across information and conduct their businesses.
REFERENCES
- Aina, S. (2003) Global Communications and the Media Agenda. Abeokuta: Julian.
- Allen, R. L., & Izcaray, F. (1988). Nominal Agenda Diversity in a Media- Rich,
- articles/2016/06/12/ full-highlights-of-world-press-trends-2016-survey
- Audit Bureau of Circulations (2017). Print media is growing – 2.37 crore copies added in the last 10 years. Retrieved from http://www.auditbureau.org/news/view/53
- Baran, S. J. (2004). Introduction to Mass Communication. Media Literacy and Culture. (3rd ed). Boston: McGraw Hill.
- Battelle, J. (2009). Comparing Twitter’s growth to Facebook and Google. Retrieved from http://www. businessinsider.com/comparing-twitters-growth-to- facebook-and-google-2009-3
- Berger, L.J. & Freeman, M. (2011). The Issue of Relevance of Agenda-Setting Theory to the Online Community. Meta-Communicate, 1(1), pp . 2-22.
