ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF YOUTHS IN ENUGU URBAN

Abstract Despite the abundance of research on politics and social media use, there seems to be limited empirical studies on public perception of the much touted contributions of social media to democracy and political participation. This research project therefore, assessed social media and political participation in Nigeria, with a focus on youths in Enugu urban. The study was anchored on the Technological Determinism theory. The researcher adopted the survey research method for the study. A sample of 400 was drawn from a population of 820,000 using the Taro Yamane formula. The measuring instrument of the study was the questionnaire which was structured into open-ended and close-ended questions. Copies were made and administered to elicit data from the respondents. The research questions were analysed using simple percentage table while the research hypotheses were tested using the Chi-Square statistical table. The researcher found out that youths in Enugu urban are exposed to political matters on social media. Part of the recommendations was that social media should only be used for campaign and mobilization purposes and not a platform for encouraging electoral violence by rival political parties.