Does social media matter in developing democracies? Examining its impact on citizen political participation and expression in Uganda

• Published date: 01 February 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1981
• Date: 01 February 2020
• Author: Juma Kasadha

ACADEMIC PAPER

Does social media matter in developing democracies?

Examining its impact on citizen political participation and

expression in Uganda

Juma Kasadha

1,2

1

Department of Media and Communication,

City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong,

SAR, China

2

United Nations University Institute on

Computing and Society (UNU‐CS), Macau,

SAR, China

Correspondence

Juma Kasadha, Department of Media and

Communication, City University of Hong Kong,

5/F, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, 18

Tat Hong Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Email: jkasadha2‐c@my.cityu.edu.hk

Funding information

Department of Media and Communication,

City University of Hong Kong

This study examines the impact of citizens' use of social media for political participa-

tion and expression in developing democracies of Africa in particular Uganda.

Findings from studied N= 2,400 respondents, evidenced social media does matter

in the developing democracy of Uganda as the second most preferred form of media

(.95 ± 2.37). Findings also showed the use of social media for political participation in

persuading others to vote for a given candidate or party was positively correlated

r= .043*(pvalue at .05), n= 2,400, and p= .035 with R

2

= .002. Future studies should

examine the use of social media platforms for policy implementation, civic

engagement, and inclusiveness.

1|INTRODUCTION

Scholars argue that social media (SM) platforms enable individuals and

groups to connect, share, and discuss ideas, which can potentially

enhance political participation and expression (Macnamara,

Sakinofsky, & Beattie, 2012; Skoric & Poor, 2013; Skoric & Zhu,

2015). According to Macnamara et al. (2012), government depart-

ments, agencies, and political parties in Australia and New Zealand

use SM platforms as a means of redressing the deficit in democratic

participation and reinvigorate the public sphere in democratic

processes (p624). In his study, Kasadha (2017) observed that SM use

fostered digital mobilization for sanitary requirements for over 2,000

girls in different parts of Uganda, a developing democracy. The use

of SM for digital mobilization of citizens creates scholarly opportuni-

ties to examine the relevance of SM in developing democracies in

the context of political participation and expression.

Therefore, this study examines whether SM does matter in devel-

oping democracies in Africa, where the use of SM in countries like the

Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, The Gambia, Chad,

Zimbabwe, and Algeria are viewed as a security threat to incumbent

governments that respond by shutting down SM platforms (Searcey

& Essomba, 2017). This study focuses on examining the importance

of SM in fostering citizen participation and expression in Uganda.

According to Rubongoya (2007), Uganda is characterized by milita-

rized political processes. This is evidenced in the 2016 presidential

elections where SM platforms were shut down by government as a

security measure to avert lies intended to incite violence and illegal

declaration of election results (Duggan, 2016). Based on Nayyar's

(2007) assertion that militarized political processes often control

traditional media, there is need to examine how use of SM in Uganda

has reinvigorated citizens' political participation and expression in

different political related activities.

Macnamara et al. (2012) observe that young people often interact

through SM networks. Based on aforementioned observation, this

study assumes that SM use increases chances of citizens' involvement

in political discussions, reflections, and idea sharing, which enhances a

citizen's political participation and expressiveness. Existing SM studies

have deduced its use to consist of heterogeneous practices that range

from passive consumption to active opinion expression (Skoric & Zhu,

2015). Therefore, in Africa where SM holds the highest proportion of

online engagements (International Telecommunication Union, 2012),

with over 120 million Facebook subscribers (Parke, 2016) raises a

scholarly need to examine SM importance and also explore its contri-

butions towards a citizen's political activism.

In Uganda, the increased preference for internet as a source of infor-

mation compared with traditional media (Uganda Bureau of Statistics

Received: 22 April 2019 Accepted: 9 May 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1981

J Public Affairs. 2020;20:e1981.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1981

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of10