Social Media And Democratic Reforms In Africa

Every time we hear about Social Media and Change, we think about the Arab Spring. Yes, this is a fact but still I believe Social Media can be used for change democratically. Almost every story that breaks here in Uganda, first breaks through Social Media. This wasn't the case 10 years ago when we could all sit on our TV sets to wait for news, or listen to radio 24/7 to wait

One Of The Posters Used In An Online
Movement In Uganda

for the news.

Today any person can actually share their view about any issue they feel is important, be it Politics, Social Issues or Even economic issues. It’s almost hard to spend a day without a friend on facebook sharing a story about politics.

The question is how Social Media can; empower citizens to participate in a democratic dialogue on constructive reforms?

First of all the stories that go around on social media actually pull one’s attention in one way or another, so you either ignore them, or you consider reading and researching a little more. If for example the story is about opposition leaders who were beaten by the police, in this case you will actually know that next time there are elections, your vote counts, so you will actually need to go and democratically cast your vote. The thing is that may be at first you did not care about politics, but when you see that picture of an opposition leader being handled brutally by police, then in one way your mindset about the country’s politics will change, and trust me, you will know that actually it’s you to do something about it.

Secondly, in the old days before social media got serious, it used to be about civil society groups to fight for constructive reforms may be about the laws that govern the country, but today actually Civil society can actually use social media to engage many people to engage in a given reform being pushed for. For example imagine with the widely spread Bribery, nepotism and misuse of public resources in Africa today, Money from mineral resources, for example, Uganda’s Oil would all be going to just a few people’s pockets, but with social media, actually transparency can be enhanced in government departments, because a report will be translated into a picture which will rotate online and actually there will be little gap left to steal public funds.

Thirdly, today there is reduced need for people going to streets to protest. This actually leads to loss of lives and properties, but with Social media, if something is not right, you just come up with say a poster, story, video, e.t.c. Everyone will share that material and the information will actually reach the leaders. At the end of the day, no one will be hurt, and public resources will be saved, because no teargas will be used, or no police man will get extra pay for taking part in the so called restoring peace because people are striking.

Another thing, I think we actually need more people in the Government to engage on Social media, because this is the easiest way to reach to the people. A half hour program on radio costs about $800 and on Tv about $1600 here in Uganda, but on Social Media, even if you were paying for the internet, it would cost you less than $50 to express the same information. I think the information also flows faster on social media, so just in case people want to get something to their leaders, they can just tweet their leaders, and may be something that they feel is not right can actually be rectified in peace and a more friendly way.

I believe everyone who is using social media should actually ask their self, whether the biggest percentage of the stuff they share online actually helps the people they share to and the country at large in moving forward. I believe this should be a question in everyone’s mind, before they share something online. This in the long run will help us actually move to making decisions online, and will bring us closer. It will reduce civil misunderstandings and the crime rate will go down, because everyone will care about the other.

Everything Africa, my continent needs right now is a constructive reform, but to make that reform, we need more than just the governments, but we need every individual’s participation.

Written By:
James Propa
@jamespropa