Digital Platforms and Promotion of Ethnic Chauvinism: Implication for Social Cohesion and Online Discourse

Abstract

In multi-ethnic societies, sentiments cannot be overruled as ideas and issues are perceived and interpreted based on ethnic opinions and positions of the people. This study seeks to unravel the usage of social media in bantering and bullying an ethnic group based on previous events undertaken by some members of that particular group. Some social media users transfer ethnic sentiments to the media space and perceive the outcome of societal occurrences based on the success or failure of actions that one ethnic group had taken in recent times. The study examines how ethnic sentiments influence further engagements in the digital space. Social media comments that ensued as a result of the fallout from the 2023 presidential election where each of Nigeria’s three major ethnic groups presented presidential candidates formed the data for this study. Qualitative content analysis was adopted as the methodology to analyse user-generated content in the study. Thirty-eight online tweets with two hundred and twenty comments on X (formerly Twitter) were purposively selected to unravel ethnic jingoism and banters expressed by users. Uses and Gratifications Theory provides the theoretical grounding for proper analysis of the study. The study reveals that motives, choices and needs shape the interest of media users and consequently determine their devotion for the achievement of intended satisfactions. Issues that threaten national cohesion and peaceful coexistence among social media audience should be strictly avoided by users because they constitute nuisance to the sociological and psychological wellbeing of the audience. 

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