By Muhsin Ibrahim
Twitter is now a battleground for political, religious, regional, and other campaigns. Everyone cares about one or another cause, consciously or not. To fight for it in this highly techno-scientific, globalized world, you need to be on social media, especially Twitter. The recent if not ongoing #EndSARS protest is a typical example. From one demand to five and now seven, the Nigerian government bow down to pressure and do what the mainly southern Nigerian youth request. Congrats on their/our success.
Although the southern tweets do also trend trivial topics, they have united over and again for significant ones and recorded remarkable successes. Much unlike them, northern tweeps care more about ladies’ photos or racy tweets and related topics. In other instances, the Arewa youth mock some celebrities over their dress, spouse, or pronouncement. Leaked videos are also a common topic of bickering, among other petty matters. I guess they do all this because of the absence of anyone responsible enough to caution them.
Tinubu’s” I Don’t Believe in One Nigeria” goes Viral on Social Media
Twitter is public. Your followers – and everyone can follow you – see whatever you react to, regardless of its nature. Many people fail to understand this simple fact. Also, more and more governments around the world use it as an official means of communication. For these reasons, many media houses mine their stories there, from both public and official users as they have direct access to tons of contents.
As you are here (Facebook), you should also be there (Twitter). Even if you can’t craft concise contents – yes, you need to KISS (keep it short and simple) on Twitter – you can retweet or “like” other’s tweets to amplify a good cause. You should also be there to monitor what your loved ones do if you care about that. You can also get informed on the goings-on in the country (or any other place of your choice) under “Nigeria Trends”, a feature that other SM platforms lack. I am not in Nigeria, but I keep a tag on any trendy topic, courtesy of Twitter.
Muhsin Ibrahim is a Ph.D. candidate in based in Germany
