Review of the article ‘Narcotizing dysfunction of the social media in
Nigeria’: Did the 2023 election experience change the narrative?
Abstract
The paper, Narcotizing Dysfunction of the Social Media in Nigeria
by Anyanwu & Ejem (2016), explains that social media are capable of
lulling Nigerian users into passivity, giving them the impression that
just by commenting on social media platforms, they have helped to solve
Nigeria’s social or political problems without taking any practical
action. However, during the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, social
media seemed to demonstrate the capability to spur Nigerians into
political participation, and helped them to match their online energy
with the willingness to contribute to providing solutions to Nigeria’s
social or political problems, leading one to wonder if social media
activism is beginning to translate to social and political participation
in the real world.