Claire Adionyi, Strathmore University The conduct of Kenya’s elections has repeatedly come under close scrutiny in the courts. Petitions were lodged challenging the outcome of presidential races in 2013 and 2017, as well as in the most recent poll. In addition to these, other elective seats invite dozens of petitions. An issue that has come […]
Continue readingEmil Temnyalov, University of Technology Sydney Digital platforms like Facebook and Google give us easy access to media and information. But our collective dependence on these tech giants could in the long run reduce the quality of journalism, making us all worse off. The tension between convenience for readers and funding for journalism has been […]
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John Ndavula, St Paul’s University Social media have opened up spaces for political candidates to engage with voters in more direct ways compared to traditional forms of campaigns such as rallies, billboard advertising, and the legacy media. Social media enhance the flow of information between candidates and voters. Traditional media in contrast are expensive; the […]
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Jon-Patrick Allem, University of Southern California Over the past few weeks, misinformation about the new coronavirus pandemic has been spreading across social media at an alarming rate. One video that went viral claimed breathing hot air from a hair dryer could treat COVID-19. A Twitter post touted injecting vitamin C to the bloodstream to treat […]
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Maggie Dwyer, University of Edinburgh and Thomas Molony, University of Edinburgh In mid-July Chad lifted its 16-month social media ban. This ended the longest social media blockage seen in any African country. The government argued that the lengthy ban was necessary for security reasons. The Chadian case highlights the way social media has increasingly been […]
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Media professionals around the world are investing more time and money for online communications, yet not all activities have the desired effects. This practical guidebook from DW Akademie focuses on social media analytics and offers advice on evaluating and targeting audiences online.
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Applications like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp have brought a broad range of users in on public discussions. Bloomicon/Shutterstock George Ogola, University of Central Lancashire Online platforms have become an important site for political and social engagement. On the one hand they have been praised for their progressive characteristics. This is because they offer great organising […]
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Muchazondida Mkono, The University of Queensland Social media platforms are providing Africans with an opportunity to counter negative stereotypes by giving them representational agency. More and more Africans use the internet. By the end of 2000 the continent had a total of 4,514,400 users. Seventeen years later it had increased to 453,329,534, giving Africa an […]
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