Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia

Yalemsew Genetu; Desta Tegegne

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11

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Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia

Yalemsew Genetu, Desta Tegegne

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 4)

Received: 14 May 2019 Accepted: 19 June 2019 Published: 10 July 2019

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Abstract

This paper sought to assess the challenges and prospects of social media for political mobilization in Ethiopia. In the study, a survey research method was used. Samples were selected based on a multistage sampling technique. So that stratified and simple random sampling techniques were applied. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The tools employed to collect primary data were interview and questionnaire. Primary data was gathered from 156 samples. Secondary data from books, reports, and Social Media Networks was used. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (like percentage and frequency) while the qualitative data collected through interview were used to triangulate the results of quantitative data. Findings from the study have shown that the main sources of political information are social media. It also revealed that Facebook is the most popular social media format followed by YouTube and Twitter. Regarding its role, social media has great importance for political mobilization. Social media users may discover political activities in social media and in this way intensify their political knowledge, increase their political efficacy, and improve their political participation. As the challenges of social media in Ethiopia, there are now quite some fake or sarcastic “news” sites that often post stories that sound authentic. Some fake news sites simply exist to post click bait stories or to troll readers who don’t do their own research. Some other challenges of social media identified by this study are limited connection speed, cost, and its inaccessibility to rural areas.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11
Page(s)	141-146
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Social Media, Political Mobilization, Ethiopia

References

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[6]	Nwodu, L. C. (2007). Using Information and Technologies (ICTs) to Check Electoral Fraud in Nigeria. Mass Media Review: An International Journal of Communication, 1 (3), 23 41.
[7]	Yamane, Taro. (1967). Statistics: An Introductory Analysis, 2nd Edition, New York: Harper and Row.
[8]	Perkins, B. (2010), “Social Media to the Rescue,” (accessed September 13, 2012). [available at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/351607/Social_Media_to_the_Rescue].
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[12]	Duncombe. C (2010). The Twitter Revolution? Social Media Representation and Crisis in Iran and Libya. Retrieved from http://law.anu.edu.au/coast/events/apsa/papers/1511.pdf.
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[16]	Antonio M (2013) Social Media- PR Tools for Romanian Politicians? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 81: 116-121.

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Yalemsew Genetu, Desta Tegegne. (2019). Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia. Social Sciences, 8(4), 141-146. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11

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Yalemsew Genetu; Desta Tegegne. Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia. Soc. Sci. 2019, 8(4), 141-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11

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AMA Style

Yalemsew Genetu, Desta Tegegne. Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia. Soc Sci. 2019;8(4):141-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11,
  author = {Yalemsew Genetu and Desta Tegegne},
  title = {Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {141-146},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20190804.11},
  abstract = {This paper sought to assess the challenges and prospects of social media for political mobilization in Ethiopia. In the study, a survey research method was used. Samples were selected based on a multistage sampling technique. So that stratified and simple random sampling techniques were applied. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The tools employed to collect primary data were interview and questionnaire. Primary data was gathered from 156 samples. Secondary data from books, reports, and Social Media Networks was used. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (like percentage and frequency) while the qualitative data collected through interview were used to triangulate the results of quantitative data. Findings from the study have shown that the main sources of political information are social media. It also revealed that Facebook is the most popular social media format followed by YouTube and Twitter. Regarding its role, social media has great importance for political mobilization. Social media users may discover political activities in social media and in this way intensify their political knowledge, increase their political efficacy, and improve their political participation. As the challenges of social media in Ethiopia, there are now quite some fake or sarcastic “news” sites that often post stories that sound authentic. Some fake news sites simply exist to post click bait stories or to troll readers who don’t do their own research. Some other challenges of social media identified by this study are limited connection speed, cost, and its inaccessibility to rural areas.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia
AU - Yalemsew Genetu
AU - Desta Tegegne
Y1 - 2019/07/10
PY - 2019
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11
DO - 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11
T2 - Social Sciences
JF - Social Sciences
JO - Social Sciences
SP - 141
EP - 146
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2326-988X
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11
AB - This paper sought to assess the challenges and prospects of social media for political mobilization in Ethiopia. In the study, a survey research method was used. Samples were selected based on a multistage sampling technique. So that stratified and simple random sampling techniques were applied. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The tools employed to collect primary data were interview and questionnaire. Primary data was gathered from 156 samples. Secondary data from books, reports, and Social Media Networks was used. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (like percentage and frequency) while the qualitative data collected through interview were used to triangulate the results of quantitative data. Findings from the study have shown that the main sources of political information are social media. It also revealed that Facebook is the most popular social media format followed by YouTube and Twitter. Regarding its role, social media has great importance for political mobilization. Social media users may discover political activities in social media and in this way intensify their political knowledge, increase their political efficacy, and improve their political participation. As the challenges of social media in Ethiopia, there are now quite some fake or sarcastic “news” sites that often post stories that sound authentic. Some fake news sites simply exist to post click bait stories or to troll readers who don’t do their own research. Some other challenges of social media identified by this study are limited connection speed, cost, and its inaccessibility to rural areas.
VL - 8
IS - 4
ER -

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Author Information

Yalemsew Genetu

Department of Civics and Ethical Studies, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, Ethiopia
Desta Tegegne

Department of Civics and Ethical Studies, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, Ethiopia

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APA Style

Yalemsew Genetu, Desta Tegegne. (2019). Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia. Social Sciences, 8(4), 141-146. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11

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ACS Style

Yalemsew Genetu; Desta Tegegne. Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia. Soc. Sci. 2019, 8(4), 141-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11

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AMA Style

Yalemsew Genetu, Desta Tegegne. Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia. Soc Sci. 2019;8(4):141-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11,
  author = {Yalemsew Genetu and Desta Tegegne},
  title = {Challenges and Prospects of Social Media Usage for Political Mobilization in Ethiopia},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {141-146},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20190804.11},
  abstract = {This paper sought to assess the challenges and prospects of social media for political mobilization in Ethiopia. In the study, a survey research method was used. Samples were selected based on a multistage sampling technique. So that stratified and simple random sampling techniques were applied. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The tools employed to collect primary data were interview and questionnaire. Primary data was gathered from 156 samples. Secondary data from books, reports, and Social Media Networks was used. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (like percentage and frequency) while the qualitative data collected through interview were used to triangulate the results of quantitative data. Findings from the study have shown that the main sources of political information are social media. It also revealed that Facebook is the most popular social media format followed by YouTube and Twitter. Regarding its role, social media has great importance for political mobilization. Social media users may discover political activities in social media and in this way intensify their political knowledge, increase their political efficacy, and improve their political participation. As the challenges of social media in Ethiopia, there are now quite some fake or sarcastic “news” sites that often post stories that sound authentic. Some fake news sites simply exist to post click bait stories or to troll readers who don’t do their own research. Some other challenges of social media identified by this study are limited connection speed, cost, and its inaccessibility to rural areas.},
 year = {2019}
}

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