The use of social media in the creation political awareness of youth in Delta State

Social media has drastically transformed the way of social interaction among the general population; even illiterate youths may simply access social media tools and applications. Social media has proven to be an excellent medium of knowledge sharing. Social media supports and facilitated the engagement of the general public in political processes. Youth are becoming more interested in politics, and the media is playing a role in raising political knowledge. It is against this knowledge that this study set out to examine the use of social media in the creation political awareness of youths in Delta State. In line with the objectives of this study, three research question were raised to guide the study, the study adopted the cross-sectional design with the survey method with a questionnaire used as instrument for data collection from 500 respondents selected through the multistage sampling technique and derived data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Results from the study revealed that most of the respondents perceive political awareness on social media platforms to be false, unreliable and often times centered on mundane discussions. Findings also showed that although the social media was perceived to have positively influenced Nigeria’s democracy by enhancing the flow of political information and awakening public political consciousness, the news and information being disseminated on social media platforms were noted to have increased the spate of hate speech and stoked political unease. The study then recommended that citizen journalists should imbibe online responsibility and be sensitive to public needs and expectations while using any of the social media platforms for political ends.