Role of Social Media in Political Communication in Southern Africa

QN . ANALYSE THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.

Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community –based input interaction , content sharing and collaboration , for example the use of facebook , twitter and whatsapp (Wasserman et al 1994). The advent of social media has provided a platform where citizens of a country no longer need to be physically gather together to discuss political issues in their lives .For example more ideas are being drawn from other countries, social media is now a platform where those with no access to mainstream medias can share their ideas, information about political leaders and their activists is no longer as secretive as it was long before ,civic society are also make use of social media mobilizing people to take actions against incompetent governments ,social media is also being used as a battlefield for intra party fights .However even if the social media is playing vital and different roles in the political communication realm one can note that social media have some weakness ,for example it has failed to bring tangible positive results, it has been used to divert people’s attention from fundamental issues and also it increased hatred among political supporters.

Through the use of social media the citizens who are outside the country are now able to share the good ideas and opinion from the government of that country with the people at home .For example taking the way how the South African government is operating , people can compare it with the way how the Zimbabwean is functioning and they can see whether the governments is competent or incompetent. With this options can be circulated and opinions can be made on how to bring about the government that supports the people’s interest .Therefore this can cause revolts that will lead to demonstrations . This should help people to understand better the operations of their governments and political parties .For example many people follow Alex Magaisa , a political analyst on twitter .Governments are also making use of social media to engage the citizens on issues of governance .The good example is that of South African ministers who use twitter. Some head of states are also on twitter and facebook showcasing developmental work they are doing in their countries. For instance in Zimbabwe one of a handful of Members of Parliament who effectively use Facebook is Jessie Majome, MP for Harare West. She uses the platform for communication with her constituency. This allows her to reach her constituency faster in a more targeted manner and vice versa, without the intermediate role of mass media. Reactions, feedback, conversations and debates are generated online as well as support and participation for the various offline activities she conducts. Messages posted to personal networks are multiplied when shared, which allow new audiences to be reached.

The emergence of social media has changed the way in which political communication takes place in the world over. Political institutions such as politicians, political parties, foundations, institutions, and so on, are all using social media such as Facebook and Twitter, as a new way of communicating with voters and their followers. Individuals and politicians alike are able to voice their opinions, engage with their network, and connect with other like-minded individuals. The active participation of social media users has been an increasingly important element in political communication, especially during elections. Individuals and politicians alike are able to voice their opinions, engage with their network, and connect with other like-minded individuals. The active participation of social media users has been an increasingly important element in political communication, especially during elections. During the recent elections in Zambia, social media networking has undoubtedly contributed to shaping the opinion of a lot of voters, especially the youths, and increased their political awareness and consciousness as evidenced by the massive youth turn-out in the recent past elections.

Furthermore according to Wasserman et al (1994) with the coming of social media ,information about political leaders and their activities is no longer as secretive as it was long before .For example the social media has helped to expose how the first family operates .Some of the stories could have been swept under the carpet for example that case of Grace Mugabe where she beats a south African girl ,if it was not social the public would have never been such type of news since the mainstream media is censored on publishing the critical stories that concern the first family ,thanks to media. Another case is that of VP Emmerson Mnangagwa who recently poisoned at Gwanda rally and he was fled to South Africa for a special treatment ,all this was unearthed