That social media play enormous role in modern democracies with regards to political communication and participation is not in doubt. With the emergence of social media and it various platforms, the sole reliance on the traditional or conventional media for communication seems to have dwindle. However, this paper explores the role of social media political communication and participation in Nigerian democracy. Source credibility theory and information society theory were used as the theoretical framework. The paper employed desk or library research methodology to gather qualitative and secondary data. Findings of the study underscored that despite the fact that social media political communication has been very effective in mobilising electorate for political participation, factors that hinder social media political communication and participation abound. The study also reveals that Nigerian politicians use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to disseminate information, share their vision and manifestoes. However, the study concludes that in the face of all it benefits and usefulness in modern democracies, social media platforms for political communication cannot be completely exonerated from shortcomings such as their usage to spread fake news, misinformation and propaganda during electioneering campaign. The paper recommends inter-alia that in employing social media political communication for political participation, electoral management bodies should regulate social media use by establishing guidelines and regulations for social media during elections to prevent fake news cum misinformation, hate speech and other forms of manipulations intended by the politicians.
Vol. 4, No 3, pp. 43-53.