Social media use in political communication: Analysing the use of X in Tanzania during A Non-Electioneering Period

Abstract

Social media is an integral part of modern life with enormous economic, political, and social implications. Sub-Saharan Africa has received considerable attention regarding the use of social media during elections. Studies have shown that social media is increasingly being adopted and used for democratic activities, especially during elections in most African countries. However, there is a dearth of literature on the use of social media for democratic purposes during the non-electioneering period. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to analyse how Tanzanians use X (formerly Twitter) to foster democracy in the non-election period so as to raise awareness among social media users, proposing ways of enhancing its usage for democratic development. The study sought to answer four questions: How do political parties utilise X to encourage new forms of political communication in Tanzania’s public sphere? How do Tanzanians use #KaziIendelee and #KatibaMpya to engage in political discourse in the country? In what ways do Tanzanian activists leverage the various uses of X to influence socio-political change in the country? In which ways does the Tanzanian government use X to promote democratic governance? The conceptual frameworks of democratic listening, online listening, and digital citizenship guided the analysis and discussion of the findings. The research adopted interpretivism and took a qualitative approach, using the case study method. Given the dynamic nature of social media platforms, the population for the study was indefinite. X accounts from three political parties, two activists, the government spokesman, and two popular political hashtags were chosen as part of a purposive sample. The data were collected from X using Twitonomy, which was developed precisely for X research. The data were collected from X using Twitonomy, which was developed precisely for X research. The data were analysed descriptively using Twitonomy and thematically using Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) Miner Lite. Analysis of the selected accounts and hashtags ascertained that Tanzanians frequently used X during the non-electioneering period, detailing the frequency of tweets, the people that users interacted with the most, and the most popular hashtags. Political parties relied on X as their primary medium for political communication and activities. Tanzanians used #KaziIendelee and #KatibaMpya to identify with communities of their liking and engage in political discourse of the course they support. Activists used X for information sharing, democratic advocacy, and driving reforms. Tanzanian government used X to encourage public participation by educating, inspiring, and raising public awareness of national development initiatives. Despite engaging in internet listening, the government’s communication was primarily one-sided. The study concludes that social media can be an effective instrument for bolstering democracy outside election seasons, but its efficacy is contingent upon its responsible and skilful utilisation. The study recommends inclusion of digital citizenship in Tanzania’s civic education policy, trainings in content creation for activism and political social media, and the government to encourage followers’ feedback.