Effect of Social Media on Political Mobilisation in Nigeria a Case Study of 2023 General Elections

This research investigates the effect of social media on political mobilization in Nigeria with focus on 2023 general election in Nigeria. The main research objective was to examine the usage of social media by political parties and their candidates as a tool of political mobilization and its effect on electorates’ choice of canditates in 2023 general election especially in Ekti State. The study made use of Diffusion of Innovations Theory. The adopted survey research design and questionnaire as the research instrument. The adult (electorate) in Ikeere Local Government constituted the study population and frequency distribution was used for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that social media has have significant impact on political mobilization in the 2023 general elections. The findings of the study also showed that political parties and their candidates made wide use of social media platforms such as facebook, twitter, whatsapp, instagram, tiktok among others for mobilization, political campaign and citizens engagement and the use of social media greatly influenced political mobilization, participation and choice of candidate in the 2023 general elections. The study also discovered that prevalence of fake news, lack of regulatory of information, use of propaganda among others are the challenges associated with the use of social media as a tool of political mobilization. The study hereby recommended that Political Parties, election management bodies and politicians should embrace the use of social media for successive political campaigns that grants the electorate the interactive opportunity with the political candidates.