Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2016)

Facebooking the Tanzanian Elections: Citizen and Party Campaigners in the Social Media Ecosystem

https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v5i1.151
Deodatus P. Shayo

Corresponding Author(s) : Deodatus P. Shayo

deodatus.shayo@duce.ac.tz

Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), Vol. 5 No. 1 (2016)

Abstract

The 2015 presidential election cycle in Tanzania featured social media networks in
electoral campaigning. Citizen and party campaigners emerged and used Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp mobile instant-messaging application to
recruit and mobilise voters. This article attempts to examine the most recent
explosion of citizen and party election campaigners on Facebook. The analysis focuses
on their engagement with Facebook campaigns, and whether the use of this social
media platform amplified the promotion of presidential candidates. The findings
indicate that some presidential candidates were hardly visible on Facebook and could
not get citizen and party campaign-initiated support. Some were actively social
networkers and had support via a networked model of Facebook campaign.
Nevertheless, a simple empirical test indicates a lack of a strong association between
Facebook election campaigns activities and shares of votes garnered by candidates.
This discards the notion that citizens and party group supporters are the agents of
electoral votes on the Facebook platform in Tanzania. Despite the fact that there is a
lack of strong association, it is reasonable to conclude that the use of social networks
in electoral campaigns is becoming a more of desired strategies and tactics among
aspirants and supporters in modern electioneering. Thus, this offers ample evidence
and opportunities for aspirants, citizen and party campaigners engagement on social
media strategically to be used to recruit and mobilise potential voters.

Keywords

election campaigns, citizen campaigners, party campaigners, Facebooking, social media ecosystem, Tanzania
Facebooking the Tanzanian Elections: Citizen and Party Campaigners in the Social Media Ecosystem. (2022). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 5(1). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v5i1.151
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Facebooking the Tanzanian Elections: Citizen and Party Campaigners in the Social Media Ecosystem. (2022). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 5(1). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v5i1.151
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