An analysis of social media as an instrument of social change: a case of the EndSARS protest

Abstract

The EndSARS protest movement took place in Nigeria from the 8th to the 20th of October 2020. The protest movement had clear objectives and goals, and utilized digital media, technology, and networks to coordinate and organize. Its extensive use of digital tools was not witnessed before in the history of social movements in Nigeria. Recognizing this, I conducted a media analysis of the protest to explore the distinctive features presented. Through discussing subthemes of organizations in social movement, the distinction between the public and the media public, the relationship between social movements and the political institutions, and the relationship between media and social movements, I explored the contemporary literature on the existing features of digital protests today. Using the social media tool, Twitter, I chose samples based on certain criteria, collected, collated, and analyzed data using discourse analysis, and used the conceptual framework of ‘clicktivism’ and “connective action” to explore the textual data collected for the discursive features through analysis of language, narratives, and frames. The discursive features were observed and discussed extensively with the relevant empirical literature. The patterns observed are classified into categories highlighting the discursive features of organization, nature of relationship, collectivity, remembrance, inclusion, and exclusion. This analysis provided much-needed information and knowledge into the distinctive features of the EndSARS movement and filled the gap in contemporary literature on the case.