SOCIAL MEDIA IN AFRICA: 8 CURRENT & FUTURE TRENDS André-Michel Essoungou

Cape Town, 3 March 2020

Means of interactions in which people create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.

1960 > 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

2008 > SOCIAL MEDIA & POLITICS

2010 > SOCIAL MEDIA BOOM IN AFRICA

CONTEXT: SOCIAL MEDIA IN AFRICA

Facebook: 54.77%

YouTube: 22.78%

Pinterest: 9.39%

Twitter: 7.47%

Intragram: 5.27%

Mobilization

Disruption

More voices

In 2000, 4,5 million out of 800 million online

In 2010, 100 million out of 1 billion online

In 2020, 525 million out of 1,3 billion online

An image is worth a thousand words, a video even more

YouTube, Facebook, Tiktok have transformed many into broadcasters…

Technical advances fueling a new age of online video

Better & cheaper smartphones + improved bandwidth

People whose actions/statements… influence others.

Cultural and sport stars, social media personalities

Politically they frame debates in significant ways…

Journalists, activists… expatriates & foreigners

Africa’s social media landscape is very political…

1.6 billion tweets… more political tweets than US and UK

Polarization drive debates, elections = polarization

Social media are platforms of dissent

Young, urban, and educated

Debates on social media reflect views from a segment…

Activists, students, journalists, lawyers, teachers…

African political leaders are not driving conversations on social media

Social media have curtailed traditional media’s dominance on political news

More people get news & opinions on social media.

The Bloomberg experiment…

External influence in elections in the West & Africa

Cambridge Analytica; US 2016 presidential elections…

African elections targeted as well… 8 countries (CAR, DRC…)

Inexpensive and easy to pull the strings on social media

An EU study: 300 euros, 18 thousand accounts, 95% not caught...

Key lesson: Social media platforms do little with little success…

Platforms escape the traditional regulations on mass communications

From Silicon Valley Facebook allows all political speech, including lies. A fine?

Facebook and co. are powerful enemies to fight, among the richest companies…

States resort to (old) methods of regulation, but...

Cuts, fees, legal threats but with negative impact on economic growth, image…

These trends are likely to persist…

WHAT TO DO?

Three steps to make social media work for you!

Step 1: Get the resources you need.

Step 2: Be proactive! “Sharing is caring!”

Step3: Monitor & engage!

“A lie can travel the world over before the truth has put on its shoes.” Mark Twain

> Good lesson: Nigeria 2010…