Online Media Audience Awareness and Response to Political Cyberbullying and its Implication to Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Tensions are usually high during political campaign periods in Nigeria as
politicians seek to influence the electorates to their favour. In the process, they
express sentiments that sometimes threaten or disparage their opponents. Online
media platforms have been one of the most adopted means for politicians, leading
to political cyberbullying. This study focused on online media audience awareness
and response to political cyberbullying and its implication to development in
Nigeria. The study had two objectives on the awareness level and response to the
issue. The researchers anchored the study on the Selective Processes Theory, and
approached it through qualitative survey research design. There were 224
respondents drawn from online media users in Nigeria. A Google designed form
was administered through emails and WhatsApp platforms. The study adopted the
four-point Likert scale format with 2.5 as the criterion for decision. The
researchers found out that online media audience is averagely aware (3.26 AWMS)
of political cyberbullying in Nigeria. Secondly, the respondents have a high
negative perception (3.56 AWMS) about political cyberbullying, which is good for
development. It was therefore concluded that with the knowledge and perception,
politicians may not benefit from political cyberbullying in the future. The study
recommends that mainstream media should increase anti-political cyberbullying
campaign through its online media platforms.