Hashtag Activism on Twittersphere in Nigeria: A Social Capital Perspective
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Date
2020
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The National Institute, Kuru
Abstract
Digital media are playing increasing roles in protest movements globally. One of such role is digital activism, specifically the rise of hashtag activism. Hashtag activism is discursive protest on social media united through a hash tagged word, phrase or sentence. This form of activism is most visible on the microblogging platform, Twitter. Recent events have shown the increasing importance of Twitter for political activism in Nigeria. Presently, examples of these form of activism abound where such protests are not limited to social media but extend to real-life situations. These cases of online protest have brought renewed attention to the influencing power of social media in the country. The popularity of hashtag activism has led to citizens coming together to draw attention to issues not addressed by mainstream political movements or media as well as engage in discourse. This organization is akin to assemblage of individuals in public sphere which is the idea behind social capital. Thus, this chapter offers a Nigerian perspective to the nexus between hashtag activism and social capital formation within a Twitter activism network.