SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AND WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

This study examined social media usage and women’s participation in politics with a focus on Anambra State. It assessed the rate of women’s access to social media applications, and usage for political participation and mobilization in the state, as well as the inherent challenges and prospects. The Communication Theory also known as, the public sphere theory was used as a theoretical framework for the study. The research was designed as a survey using questionnaire as instrument for data collection. Using Taro Yamane's formula, a sample size of 399 was drawn from the population of 2,237,761 women from the state. The researchers distributed 399 copies of questionnaire to the women and the results were collated and analysed. Findings show that there is a high access rate of women to social media applications, however, it was also revealed that they do not use the applications to discuss politics generally; they accepted that they do not use social media to enhance their efforts towards participation in politics. On that note, it was recommended that Women should leverage on their high social media access to push discourse on increased participation in politics. Also, women should endeavour to use the social media as a medium to garner support for women contesting political position. Additionally, they should own personal pages on any social media platform as an avenue to reach their potential voters.