7 - Social Networks as Anti-revolutionary Forces: Facebook and Political Apathy among Youth in Urban Harare, Zimbabwe
Corresponding Author(s) : Manase Kudzai Chiweshe
Africa Development,
Vol. 42 No. 2 (2017): Africa Development: Special Issue on Study on Oblique Identity Dynamics
Abstract
The much celebrated Arab Spring has championed social media as an organizing force. This led to the celebration of a new revolutionary force for people seeking more justice and accountability from their leaders. Maghreb became the example to follow for others across Africa especially given the central role youth played in the revolts. This article questions the ability of social media to galvanize, organize and bring together youth in other parts of Africa to be actively involved in political processes within their own spaces. Using the example of urban youth in Harare, the article show that the most popular social networking site, Facebook, is anything but a site of deep political engagement. Rather, youth spent hours on the site discussing anything from fashion, gossip, sport, sex, relationships, religion and music. By removing youth from serious engagement with issues that affect their lives, social media is cultivating political apathy among Zimbabwean youth. There are little, if any, serious policy debates and discussions online. Social media alone is thus not a panacea to address youth political apathy in Africa.
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- Benkler, Y., 2006, The Wealth of Networks How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, New Haven CT: Yale University Press.
- Bennett, W.L., ed., 2008, Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
- Calhoun, C., ed., 1993, Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge MA: MIT Press. Chhibi, P., 2011, ‘ICT’s as aTool for Democratisation: Why Invade? Just “Poke!”’, The North African revolutions, Consultancy Africa Intelligence Africa Watch Unit, http://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=690:icts-as-a-tool-for-democratisation-why-invade-just-poke-the-north-african-revolutions-&catid=57:africa-watch-discussion-papers&Itemid=263, accessed 30 June 2012.
- Dahlgren, P., 1995, Television and the Public Sphere: Citizenship, Democracy and the Media, London: Sage.
- Davis, J., 2011, Cause Marketing: Moving beyond Corporate Slacktivism, http://evidencebasedmarketing.net/cause-marketing-moving-beyond-corporate-slacktivism, accessed 22 November 2011.
- Ekine, S., ed., 2009, SMS Uprising: Mobile Phone Activism in Africa, Cape Town: Pambazuka Press.
- Fawdry, A., 2012, ‘Young People in Internet Politics?’, http://www.thinkyoung.eu/index.php/publications/75-young-people-in-internet-politics.html), accessed 8 July 2012.
- Fraser, N., 1993, ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy’, in Calhoun, C., ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
- Habermas, J., 1989, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Kozinets, R.V., 2006, ‘Netnography 2.0’, in Belk, R.W., ed., Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Lim, M. 2006. ‘Cyber-Urban Activism and the Political Change in Indonesia’, EastBound Journal 1, http://www.eastbound.info/journal/2006-1/, accessed 20 July 2012.
- Lynch, M., 2011, ‘After Egypt: The Limits and Promise of Online Challenges to the Authoritarian Arab State’, Perspectives of Politics 9 (2): 301–11.
- Manganga, K., 2012, ‘The Internet as Public Sphere: A Zimbabwean Case Study (1999–2008)’, Africa Development XXXVII (1): 103–18.
- Mudapakati, Y., 2011, ‘Facebook Me: An Exploratory Study of Social Networking among Women’s University in Africa Students’, unpublished undergraduate thesis, Women’s University in Africa.
- Morozov, E., 2011, The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, New York NY: Public Affairs.
- Mzaca, V., 2012, Social Networking and the Future of Political Reporting in Zimbabwe and Beyond, http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/22070, 12 July.
- Spender, D., 1995, Nattering on the Net: Women, Power and Cyberspace, Melbourne: Spinifex Press.
- Soja, E.W., 1989, Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory,London: Verso.
- Thornton, A., 1996, ‘Does Internet Create Democracy?’, unpublished M.A. journalism thesis,
- http://www.wr.com.au/democracy/index.html, accessed 7 March 2010.
- Walton, M., 2011, ‘Book Review: Mobilising African Publics’, Information Technologies and International Development 7 (2): 47-50.
- Wasserman, H., 2012, ‘Talking Politics: Young South Africans and Political Participationin Mobile and Social Media’, paper presented at IAMCR2012 on 17 July, Durban.
References
Benkler, Y., 2006, The Wealth of Networks How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, New Haven CT: Yale University Press.
Bennett, W.L., ed., 2008, Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Calhoun, C., ed., 1993, Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge MA: MIT Press. Chhibi, P., 2011, ‘ICT’s as aTool for Democratisation: Why Invade? Just “Poke!”’, The North African revolutions, Consultancy Africa Intelligence Africa Watch Unit, http://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=690:icts-as-a-tool-for-democratisation-why-invade-just-poke-the-north-african-revolutions-&catid=57:africa-watch-discussion-papers&Itemid=263, accessed 30 June 2012.
Dahlgren, P., 1995, Television and the Public Sphere: Citizenship, Democracy and the Media, London: Sage.
Davis, J., 2011, Cause Marketing: Moving beyond Corporate Slacktivism, http://evidencebasedmarketing.net/cause-marketing-moving-beyond-corporate-slacktivism, accessed 22 November 2011.
Ekine, S., ed., 2009, SMS Uprising: Mobile Phone Activism in Africa, Cape Town: Pambazuka Press.
Fawdry, A., 2012, ‘Young People in Internet Politics?’, http://www.thinkyoung.eu/index.php/publications/75-young-people-in-internet-politics.html), accessed 8 July 2012.
Fraser, N., 1993, ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy’, in Calhoun, C., ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Habermas, J., 1989, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Kozinets, R.V., 2006, ‘Netnography 2.0’, in Belk, R.W., ed., Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Lim, M. 2006. ‘Cyber-Urban Activism and the Political Change in Indonesia’, EastBound Journal 1, http://www.eastbound.info/journal/2006-1/, accessed 20 July 2012.
Lynch, M., 2011, ‘After Egypt: The Limits and Promise of Online Challenges to the Authoritarian Arab State’, Perspectives of Politics 9 (2): 301–11.
Manganga, K., 2012, ‘The Internet as Public Sphere: A Zimbabwean Case Study (1999–2008)’, Africa Development XXXVII (1): 103–18.
Mudapakati, Y., 2011, ‘Facebook Me: An Exploratory Study of Social Networking among Women’s University in Africa Students’, unpublished undergraduate thesis, Women’s University in Africa.
Morozov, E., 2011, The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, New York NY: Public Affairs.
Mzaca, V., 2012, Social Networking and the Future of Political Reporting in Zimbabwe and Beyond, http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/22070, 12 July.
Spender, D., 1995, Nattering on the Net: Women, Power and Cyberspace, Melbourne: Spinifex Press.
Soja, E.W., 1989, Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory,London: Verso.
Thornton, A., 1996, ‘Does Internet Create Democracy?’, unpublished M.A. journalism thesis,
http://www.wr.com.au/democracy/index.html, accessed 7 March 2010.
Walton, M., 2011, ‘Book Review: Mobilising African Publics’, Information Technologies and International Development 7 (2): 47-50.
Wasserman, H., 2012, ‘Talking Politics: Young South Africans and Political Participationin Mobile and Social Media’, paper presented at IAMCR2012 on 17 July, Durban.