Social Media: A Tool and A Voice.

Since the advent of social media, the world has has seen a lot of changes, many of these changes were too strange for some older people at it early stage, but the younger generations were so curious about. We found it to be interesting, it was world to escape the real world and maybe worth it. Years after years, the utilization of social media expanded beyond the walls of chat apps and rooms, we could find know about anything we want to know, informations everywhere, etc.

Many people became known for certain things because of social media, many shared what they do best, some others shared their thoughts and point of views. Anyone with access to internet all around the could know about what is happening in another side of the world just because it is online on social media. This way, politics found its way on social media.

My country is largely controlled by very old individuals who in a way find the social media strange at first. The activities of politicians were 97% offline, real world actions and events. The social media didn't really have a major impact on politics in Nigeria until 2020. This was the year when everyone was busy running and avoiding COVID-19. The pandemic kept us locked in the four corners of our houses, boredom literally led all the youths to embrace social media more. Instagram had more engagements, TikTok came and it was wild, Facebook was still much a go to for us then but only X (formerly Twitter) was the best of the best.

X platform is so different, it is more of intellect, you can thrive there only if you knowledgeable about certain things. Here we call it the banter app. There is always trending on that app, lots of arguments and points of views. Covid made us like social media more and individuals began to post more about their thoughts and particularly the things happening in their environment. It was more everyone is trying to give world an update about how the lock down is going. Informations were enough on the internet to know what's happening in several countries.

Pallative came after lock down and we only got to know that the palliatives that was distributed wasn't even up to 40% of what the president budgeted. The news spread like wild fire on social media, the fire was much more on X, it was the platform where the wealthiest, middle class and poor get to meet, an international space. A lot of secrets were revealed in a short while. The influence of X on political figures was too intense that X was banned in Nigeria for some months but that didn't stop us.

EndSars was a big event, with mixed feelings. The youth maximised the social media, had their way to stop the I'll treatments of youth by the police. It was a mighty force against the government but ended brutally, many lots their lives.

Election came and the youths were able to gather themselves, found a worthy candidate and backed the candidate for the election. That period there was a lot of campaigns and peaceful protest online and offline. Youth were able to meet physically because of social media, funds were contributed to support the move. Voters were won to their sides and the move kept enlarging, many X users added their candidate's name to their bio or username as the move enlarged. So many people got recognition for themselves and mostly, businesses and brands had their lime light too. Cryptocurrency also made it easier to transact because it is decentralized, government couldn't stop the move.

I can say that social media was a threat to our government for a long while before they had their cunny way into the system itself: the government began to find individuals who were really a pillar of support for the seeming opposition. Many got arrested, maltreated, some get held in detention: it reduced the voice of the people for a while. Sometimes lies are spread online in favour of the governments, some would believe and begin to fight and support the government blindly without any solid proofs. Social media is for those who are intelligent amd really smart, else you get swayed easily by every thing out read.

Social is a tool and a voice that can be harnessed to change my country, but one other thing left is the same energy that been put online will have to be reciprocated in real life. People need to be convinced that a particular candidate, party or government is worthy. Social nedia is a big influence in today's world.