INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUTHS’ MOBILISATION FOR #ENDBADGOVERNANCE PROTESTS IN AKURE-SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This research investigated how social media influenced youths’ mobilization for the #EndBadGovernance protests in Akure South Local Government Area. It examined the extent of social media usage among residents of Akure-South, identified the most utilized social media platforms for the mobilization of #EndBadGovernance protest, assessed the effectiveness of social media in mobilizing residents of Akure-South for #EndBadGovernance protest, and examined the factors that impeded social media usage for the protest in Akure-South. The Social Movement Theory was adopted, and the survey research design was used, while the questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. Taro Yamani’s formula was used to determine a sample size of 400. The study employed the multistage sampling technique, and the data were gathered using a well-structured questionnaire. The study found that X (Twitter) was the commonly adopted social media for mobilizing the youth for the #EndBadGovernance protest in Ondo State, and that the major factors that hindered social media usage during the protests were the lack of network access and poor internet connectivity.