Climate of Conformism: Social Media Users’ Opinion on Homosexuality in Nigeria

Social media has emerged as a robust medium for discourses on sexuality given its capacity to challenge mainstream narratives and empower personal views on self-expression. In Nigeria, the growing interest in homosexual expressions through online platforms is yet to receive significant research attention, although scholars are hinting at the influences of social media. The present study examines social media as a relatively novel platform for discourses on homosexuality in Nigeria. It attempts to ascertain users’ willingness to express opinion, directions of opinion, and factors affecting opinion formation. Within the purview of social integration paradigms, the study reviews current perspectives in global homosexuality narratives. Using descriptive and hermeneutic analysis, it examines data from 323 Facebook users selected through snowball sampling technique as well as 300 comments purposively selected from “verified” Instagram accounts. The study finds significant willingness to express opinions, propelled by “rising interest in the topic.” Within a persisting climate of negative opinion, the study locates subsisting influences of socio-cultural institutions on opinion formation. It discusses the implications of the influences of the institutions and political propaganda, which nourish heterosexism and negative bias against homosexuality.