AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA (TWITTER) IN DETERMINING ELECTIONS VICTORY IN NIGERIA A CASE STUDY OF THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to analyze and ascertain the role twitter plays in the 2023 in determining election victory in Nigeria. As a global phenomenon and platform for knowledge, information and person to group communications, Twitter has come to shape our lives in very fascinating and remarkable ways. It represents the perfect example of democratization of information and technology with demonstrable capacity to migrate communication to interactive dialogue, and social activation. This is greatly evident all around the world with regards to its use for campaigns and enlightenment by political parties. (Madumere 2020) Governance relates to the controlling of people in an environment in order to achieve the best result through effective participation of the people. In such democracy from the grassroot, the electorates have the power to elect or remove their representatives. Therefore, The Researcher formulated three research objectives and questions as a guideline to obtaining specific data, using the secondary data and a systematic literature review. The theory to use for this study is Technological Determinism Theory. The theory which was propounded by McLuhan, 1964, a Canadian communication scholar, who observed new media technologies in communication, would soon determine social changes, turning the world into a global village. This theory portends that, given the emergence of Internet and its adoption and relevance in mobilizing people for political activities, there is bound to be an impact on the electoral process and overall political environment. Key words: Election, Twitter, Communication and Governance