Impact of Digital Media on Political Campaigns Towards Disintermediated Political Communication in Africa
Main Article Content
Keywords
Digital media, political campaigns, disintermediation, politics, Africa
Abstract
This article explores the impact of digital media on political campaigns towards disintermediated political communication in Africa. It highlights that, due to the proliferation of digital media, political communication processes have drastically shifted away from traditional formats to more adaptable and personalised platforms linked to digital citizenship. It further discusses the characterisation of African political campaigns and its impact on democratisation. Application of the Adaptive structuration and Media richness theories is employed to explicate the role of information technologies in facilitating societal change. The article argues that, disintermediation in political campaigns results from unfettered access to alternative means of information with potential to diminish the power of the “voice”; stimulate new forms of political consciousness; cultivate optimisation of political engagement and yield truism through verification of political information both pre and post elections. It concludes that digital media have radically changed how the electorate participate in African politics, meanwhile cascading its ability to empower citizens to redefine their sense of political space in a disintermediated environment.
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References
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Zelkowitz, M. (2010). Advances in Computers: Improving the web. London: Elsevier.
Zinyama, T. (2012). The complexity of democratic transition: The Zimbabwe case, 1999-2011. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(12), 136-147.
Chen, Y., Mao, Z., & Qiu, J. L. (2018). Super-sticky WeChat and Chinese society. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/9781787430914
Cheng, A. (2008.) Communication and conflict in virtual teams. Minneapolis: Capella University.
Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2012). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing communications. London: Sage publications.
Crockett, Z. (2016). What I learned analyzing 7 months of Donald Trump’s tweets. Vox. Retrieved from http://www.vox.com/2016/5/16/11603854/donald-trump-twitter.
Das Sarma, M. (2016). Tweeting 2016: How social media is shaping the Presidential election. Inquiries, 8(9), 1/1.
DeSanctis, G. & Poole, M. S. (1994). Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: Adaptive structuration theory. Organization Science, 5(2), 121-147. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.5.2.121
Dieltiens, V. (2005). In defence of minimalism: beyond a robust approach to citizen education. Journal of Public Administration, 37, 189-202.
Dingli, A., & Seychell, D. (2015). The new digital natives: Cutting the Chord. Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46590-5
Elefant, C., & Black, N. (2012). Social media for lawyers: The next frontier. Chicago: American Bar Association.
Fanon, F. (1963). The wretched of the earth. London: Penguin books publishers.
French, H. W. (2004). A continent for the taking: The tragedy and hope of Africa. New York: Vintage Books.
Grey, T., & Silver-Pacuilla, H. 2011. Breakthrough teaching and learning: How educational and assistive technologies are driving innovation. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7768-7_2
Heywood, A. (2007). Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers.
Hobbs, W. R., & Roberts, M. E. (2018). How sudden censorship can increase access to information. American Political Science Review, 112(3), 621-636. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055418000084
Hutchins, B., & Rowe, D. (2012). Sport beyond television: The internet, digital media and the rise of networked media sport. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203120415
Jones, J. J. (2017). Journalism and New (social) media in South Africa. In P. Fourie. (Ed.). Media Studies: Social (New) Media and Mediated Communication Today (pp. 293-322). Cape Town: Juta.
Joosten, T. (2012). Social media for education: Strategies and best practices. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Koenane, M. L. & Mangena, F. (2017). Ethics, accountability, and democracy as pillars of good governance: Case of South Africa. African Journal of Public Affairs, 9(5), 61-73.
Kruikemeier, S. (2014). How political candidates use Twitter and the impact on votes. Computers in human behaviour, 34, 131-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.025
Lee, J. C., & Quealy, K. (2018). The 487 People, Places, and Things Donald Trump has insulted on Twitter: A complete list. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html?campaign_id=A100&campaign_type=Email&_r=1.
Lindgren, S. (2017). Digital media and society. London: Sage.
McNair, B. (2011). An Introduction to Political Communication. Communication and Society. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203828694
Mendel, T. (2011). Political and Media Transitions in Egypt: A Snapshot of Media Policy. Internews. Retrieved from http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/research/Egypt/Internews_Egypt_MediaLawReview_Aug11.pdf
Muswede, T. & Lubinga, E. (2018). Global media hegemony and the transformation bliss in post-colonial Africa: Real independence or a mere change of masters? African Journal of Public Affairs, 10(2), 82-96.
Muswede, T. & Sebola, M. P. (2019). Democracy, governance and power transfer in post-colonial Africa: Examining military intervention in Zimbabwe. Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 2019(8): 1507-1513. https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-7092.2019.08.134
Naidoo, S. (2006). The role of the military in democratic governance in Africa: The need to institutionalise civil-military relations. Policy research and capacity building challenges. Monograph, 122(2006), 33-48.
Nyarota, G. (2018). The graceless fall of Robert Mugabe: The end of a dictator’s reign. Cape Town: Penguin Books.
Pick, J. B. & Sarkar, A. (2015). Digital divide in Africa. The global digital divides. Springer, Berlin: Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46602-5
Ott, B. L. (2017). The age of Twitter: Donald J. Trump and the politics of debasement. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 34(1), 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2016.1266686
Rodny-Gumede, Y. (2017). The impact of social media on journalism. In Fourie, P. (Ed.). Media Studies: Social (New) Media and Mediated Communication Today (pp 267-292). Cape Town: Juta.
Sang-Hee, K., Kyung-Ho, H. & Do-Hyun, J. (2011). Time and space perceptions on Media Platforms. Proceedings of the Media Ecology Association, 12(1), 25-48.
Saridou, T., Panagiotidis, K., Tsipas, N. & Veglis, A. (2018). Semantic tools for participatory journalism. Journal of Media Critiques [JMC], 4(14).
Sundar, S. S. & Limperos, A. M. (2013). Uses and grats 2.0: New gratifications for new media. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 57(4), 504-525. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2013.845827
Weber, V. (2019). The worldwide web of Chinese and Russian information controls. Center for technology and global affairs. Oxford: University of Oxford.
White, B., King, I. & Tsang, P. (2011). Social media tools and platforms in learning environments. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20392-3
Wood, J. (2012). Interpersonal communication: Everyday encounters. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Zelkowitz, M. (2010). Advances in Computers: Improving the web. London: Elsevier.
Zinyama, T. (2012). The complexity of democratic transition: The Zimbabwe case, 1999-2011. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(12), 136-147.
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Jun 1, 2022
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Impact of Digital Media on Political Campaigns: Towards Disintermediated Political Communication in Africa. (2022). African Journal of Political Science, 10(1), 41-50. https://doi.org/10.36615/ajpsrasp.v10i1.1152
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Author Biography
Thabiso Muswede, University of Limpopo
Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Information Studies
How to Cite
Impact of Digital Media on Political Campaigns: Towards Disintermediated Political Communication in Africa. (2022). African Journal of Political Science, 10(1), 41-50. https://doi.org/10.36615/ajpsrasp.v10i1.1152