Mobilizing social media for Development

Social media networks are fundamentally important for development. Agenda's 2030 and 2063 present a unique opportunity for young peoples' voice to be heard and to shape development policy and practice. In this survey ACE asked young Africans their perceptions on how well their voice is heard by policymakers in development, the role of social media in amplifying young people’s voice, how social media is used for social good in their community and, recognizing the importance of localizing the SDGs, the best platform to promote SDGs at the community level. From Kenya to Nigeria to Djibouti to Zambia to Lesotho young people articulate their concerns and  hopes for the future of development.

Question 1: Are young people heard by policymakers in development?

Young people are heard by policymakers:

·         Most youth believe their voice is heard but in different ways and in different levels

·         Some issues raised through social media are addressed by policymakers.

·         It is easier for young people to be heard when they articulate their issues within existing networks such as youth networks.

·         Sometimes youth are heard but they are not engaged with; while other times they are merely engaged in a consultative manner but not as competent actors in the implementation of development projects.

Young people are not heard by policymakers:

·         There is no direct link between youth and policymakers especially in rural areas

·         Limited access to channels, such as social media which reduce the distance between policymakers and youth, due to high cost of connection

·         Young people’s opinion not considered as valuable or necessary by some policymakers

Question 2: Does social media enhance or dilute young people’s voice?

Most young people believe that social media has enhanced their voice. Social media has enabled youth to articulate issues affecting them and their communities. Young people can also express their views and contribute to public discourse; importantly young people in marginalized communities who lack access to other platforms can easily express their views via social media. Social media is relatively free of censorship and therefore a way for youth to exercise freedom of speech. Relatedly, social media can be used as a tool to mobilize against oppressive systems.

Conversely, social media does have disadvantages which limit how effective it is as a tool for young people to have their voice heard by policymakers. Some young people argue that social media is highly manipulated and filtered which diverts attention and efforts from actual engagement that can lead to social change. To address this limitation, young people need to learn how to sift through dense information, identify fake news and leverage social media for social change.

Question3:  Do you feel safe giving your opinions on social media and does this affect what you say on social media?

Two thirds of respondents replied Yes with the following comments:

·         As long as it's not political

·         At times I have a feeling of data breach

·         Aware my opinion may not be accepted by everybody

·         I don't engage into people's personal issues but what will  benefit  myself and my community

One third replied Nowith the following comments:

·         A futile exercise as efforts absorbed into the chaos of social media

·         Its a tool for Mass communication engineered by the programmers to advance and promote certain premeditated agendas

·         Only useful for mobilising demos

·         I cannot be open all the time with what I want to say

·         Ideas can be interpreted wrongly and mislead, best to express opinions anonymously

·         Fear of misinterpretation of information given;

·         Limited freedom of speech in my country

·         Data collection is used against us

·         Prevalence of false identity and hacking of accounts and/or recreating accounts of others

·         I cannot give my honest opinion whilst living in Africa

Of the countries where multiple replies were received, Cameroon and Tunisia opinions varied about the safety of social media, Kenyans generally felt safe although concerns were expressed about data breach and political specific messages, Nigerians, Liberians  and Somalis were happy to express views, Ugandans felt safe as long as they stuck to social media policy.  

Question 4: How do social media networks impact your work in your community?

·         Solves social problems by providing quick access to information

·         By  sharing Organization updates

·         Through hearing about problems in our community

·         Has helped amplify our voices

·         Helps inform what we do in our community

·         Is impactful especially for youth-targeted programs

·         Creates awareness about the situation in my community and facilitates network of collaborators

·         Sharing ideas helps create better programs for community development

·         Helps launch advocacy campaigns against bad governance and share information quickly to my peers

·         Social media has held the responsible authorities to account to take action to ensure public funds work for the good of the people

·         Raising funds, inspiring people

·         Enables easy communication so the work is more efficient

·         Gives a voice to everyone, encourages collective reasoning and planning

·         Facilitate the trust of policy stakeholders to support action dedicated to the community

·         Helps with public service announcement, job vacancies and messaging clients

·         Gives examples of how others are coping around the world.

Question5: What’s the best platform to promote SDGs at the local level?

To promote SDGs at the local level, young people emphasize the need to translate the SDGs into a vernacular that speaks to people at the grassroots. The following are some platforms that can be used to promote SDGs at the local level:

·         Social media – Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp. These are used by most young people; they are interactive, and one can reach a wide audience because most people have access to mobile phones.

·         Learning Institutions – universities, colleges, schools

·         Community dialogues and trainings - these can be held in town halls, schools, churches

·         Community groups such as youth groups and women groups

·         Faith-based organizations - churches

·         Local radio and SMS – easily accessible especially in rural areas with poor internet connectivity

·         Libraries

·         Local authorities – Chiefs and local councils

·         Local NGOs and other grassroot organizations

Question 6: Social media for social good: success stories

Most young people use social media to make a difference in their community as evidenced by the following examples:

·         To publicize community development work by sharing project results on social media

·         To access information and resources that is useful for resourcing community development projects

·         In advocacy work, youth use social media to advocate for better services for their communities

·         To influence behaviour among people. For example, by using social media to raise political consciousness in Kenya, to resolve conflicts in Somalia and to promote conscious consumption and behaviour in Cameroon.

·         To create awareness. In Sudan, for example, young people have used social media to draw attention to the scarcity of medicine and in Kenya they have used social media to create awareness on SDGs and environmental issues.

·         To reach and address leaders. In Tunisia young people have used Facebook to facilitate discussion with local leaders while in Liberia they have used social media to hold the government accountable and to promote participatory budgeting

·       To mobilize youth around a common problem, build networks and partnerships and collaborate on community projects

Countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, Chad, Tanzania, Tunisia, Liberia, Cameroon, Uganda, DRC, Somalia, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Djibouti, Central African Republic, Sudan, Lesotho, USA, Sweden.