The Rivers re-run
election is to hold on Saturday 10th December. With several
postponements due to violence and insecurity, the stakes are high for the two
major political parties in the up-coming elections. Rivers State residents and indigenes are also eager to see the elections finally come and go peacefully, so that normalcy can return to the state. While the 2015 election was
popularly believed to have been decided, dominated and directed by social media,
it is yet to be seen how much influence will social media will have this Saturday.
Here are 3 ways we believe social media will feature in Saturday’s re-run
elections.
Monitor vote counting process- Social media will play a role as a watchdog to keep the integrity of
the electoral process. As witnessed from the 2015 elections, it may not be
strange to see people monitoring the vote counting at the various units and
posting the results on social media even before the traditional media or INEC
declares results. This should be treated with caution as only INEC can
officially declare results.
Keep oneself engaged while at the polling booths- Selfies have become the norm. It may not be
out of place to see voters take selfies of themselves at the polling booths and
post it for followers to see. Also while waiting for accreditation, voters may
decide to amuse themselves with hilarious content readily found available on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and You-tube
Live updates of activities of different polling units- One thing to expect on Saturday is Voters’
providing news and information surrounding the elections through messages,
pictures and videos on social media platforms like Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The danger with this is that
propaganda pictures or videos might be put out there by opposing parties to
confuse voters and achieve dubious aims. It will be wise to take information on
social media with a pinch of salt and verify as much as possible from official
channels.
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