Social Media's Role in Youths' Quest for Change

 By: Ruth Mbijigoh 

The world evolves with time and many things witness a rapid or gradual swift.  One of these areas that have undergone great change is that of communication. Being the vehicle of information for ages, it has undergone a lot of metamorphosis. Traditional means of communication have given birth to modern ways. In the past, communication though effective was not as smooth as it is today and this is because the world has embraced new, effective and efficient means of communication. We have examples like mails, emails, cell phones, computers, smart phones and online collaboration. All these cited means embody what is known today as the social media- the ways of interactions amongst people through the creation and sharing or exchange of information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. As examples of the social media here include Facebook, WhatsApp,  YouTube ,Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin , Tiktok, etc . It is the fastest and reliable and though an exigency for all is in the active hands of youths. Unlike in the past where youths were axed to silence through the unaccommodating means of exchange , today, the social media have come to give them the voice and they space they had been clamoring for.  It is believed that 75 percent of young people have one functional social media profile and 51 percent visit the social media daily which is partly because of their mastery of communication tool and the role the social media plays in modern day lives .This paper tries to x-ray the current place of the social media and its use as a weapon by the youths to have their voices heard and an attempt to change the narratives and perspectives. It is an opportunity to see how the social media has given to the youth, their voices to make their choices and be part of the national and international debates.

To begin with, the social media is a home for youths to share their worries which they do through advocacy and social media activism. Youths have been able to use these to raise awareness about their problems, stand as a common group to spur social change .They have succeeded to contribute their own quota to social change and a lot of issues in life. Youths have been able to be engaged in politics through the use of the social media and one can quote examples of Bobi Wine of Uganda, Kah Wallah of Cameroon and the Obedient movement in Nigeria that stood firmly behind presidential hopeful Peter Obi and are still deploring the poor conduct of the elections .Youths to denounce these ills use Hashtags  on social media handles like Instagram , Facebook ot Twitter  to express their anger and disappointment . Some examples used were that to raise awareness about the climate chahge, mental health, corruption, electoral malpractices,GBV ,  EndSARS in Nigeria etc.

In addition, the rise of the social media has given birth to new professions which are predominantly manned by youths and they have used it to jealously project their issues and even propose solutions. An example is the case of the recent FIFA world cup in Qatar where social media influencers were used to market and showcase the potentials of the host nations. This is the reason why some influencers like Cabrel Nanjip, Hoga le Pichchi, Tenor and Queen Eteme were selected from Cameroon to visit the host country, and sell the potentials of the country and of Cameroon. Their mission was to take the competition to their generation and talking about influencers, we can note that it is a newfound job handled by youths. It talks about current issues and brings general issues to the table for discussion.  like their names stipulates, they are a reference and models to youths and that explains why they can be able to rally youths and try to  brief them on the societal anomalies that they witness. Their ways of handling information are gradually replacing mainstream journalism , their closeness to the masses makes them their choice as they in most cases are agents of change . Examples of such influencers include Boitumelo Thulo,Khaby Lame,

When the Anglophone crises in Cameroon got the point that the government was arresting members of the Consortium that was manning the grievances of Anglophones, power was quickly transferred abroad. It was handled by two youths, Tapang Ivo and Mark Baretta who continued to share the aspirations of the people by directing the Anglophone crises popularly known as the struggle through the use of the social media especially Facebook and Twitter to expose the grievances of the people of the English part of Cameroon.  Given that they were far away from home, their power was only exercised through the social media. They directed and animated the struggle from a distance through daily updates on the issues on the ground and through circulars that they released online. We can conclude that they succeeded to mobilize their audience.

Still about the Anglophone crises, unlike in the past where some hideous crimes went unnoticed, the social media became the police of the people. A typical example is that killing of school children of the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba by unidentified gun men . The drastic reaction from youths especially using  the #EndAnglopheCrisis- Cameroon hashtag  brought to the knowledge of many about the existence of the current crisis in that nation. The Norwegian Refugee Council saw it as the most ignored crisis in the world but the mobilization of the youths gave it the desired attention.

In 2020, protesters in the streets of Liberia forced their president – George Weah to succumb to their demands and put in place measures that can curb violence against women. This was triggered by a boy of 19 who is said to have mutilated the genitals of a three year old and was planning to rape her and the waves of rape cases recorded by the country since 2015.Given the power of the social media, the president can be held responsible if he fails to implement the promised measures and in that case, only an online hashtag can bring him to order.

Young women in South Africa protested in2019 against gender based violence by marching in the streets and later storming social media with a call for an end to their woes ad later marched in front of parliament urging the president to put in place a budget and a team to handle the crises, the same case occurred in Namibia when young women shared pictures  of  their October demonstration against  GBV and femicide .  Youths rose in joy when president Mugabe of Zimbabwe resigned and prayed for a new nation with the new president but three years later, were compelled to protest against the violation of human rights and the press censorship. Most of the protests were done on social media for fear of being tracked down by the regime. Thus, we can see that the social media being a tool for change is an escape road for the youths who may not use the streets but the tweets that can save many lives.

 The church has not been left out of this situation because many youths now use the social media as a tool to share the gospel .The gospel through preaching is used online and messages shared through platforms by youths to other youths. The case in point is that of the passion of Christ that was celebrated last week where youths used videos from the theatric representation of the suffering of Christ to share on social media. We also have the case of young Pastor Korede Komaiya who makes a lot of money from YouTube and that is been done through preaching and evangelism. This is a clear indication that the youths use the social media for very divergent reasons and that it is an effective tool for exchanges and contact.

 The social media appears to be a sharp blade in the hands of youths ready to fall any tree standing on their way. As it is now possible to use a phone to effect change, one is certain that as technology is evolving, youths being the core of it will be at the centre of any decision made to affect their destiny. The social media far from being a good tool has also been wrongly used by many youths. This has resulted in many negative acts like cyber criminality, sexual harassment and scamming. Therefore a better use of the social media by all youths can be the beginning of a new dawn especially in Africa .

(Image copyright: simplilearn)