An Empirical Analysis of Influence of Social Media on Voters' Choices during the Nigeria's 2023 Presidential Elections in Edo State

Media and communication are essential components of democracy. Media platform can be electronic, visual or social and are drivers of democratic deepening as well as instrumental to grooming anarchy on the other hand. In other words, there have been sustained debates among shades of opinion on the actual role social media play in electoral politics and democratic sustainability. Whereas social media has acted as catalyst for popular mobilization for political engagement it has also created platforms for mobilizing its teeming audience for rebellion and disruption of democratic order at some points such as Nigeria’s experience with the infamous EndSars Protests of 2020. The paper explored the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) as its theoretical framework. To achieve its set objective, a sample of 240 registered voters was taken using purposive and convenience sampling techniques to draw sample of 40 respondents from six selected local government areas across the three senatorial districts of Edo State for the purpose of questionnaires administration. In addition to the questionnaires administered. The hypothesis of the study was tested using chi square analysis. This paper found that social media platforms were powerful tools in the rapid dissemination of political information throughout the Nigeria’s electoral process of 2023 acting as critical conduits for political discourse, enabling the swift transmission of information to a broader audience. The paper further established an association between the frequency of social media interactions involving political contents and voters' preferences during the 2023 presidential elections among the voters in Edo State. This paper recommends that Edo State government should provide incentives towards open and free media access down to the communities’ level to increase the prominence of social media as an information-sharing platform so as to engender the possibility of a more inclusive and engaged citizenry and robust voter participation as a remedy to perennial voter apathy. It was concluded that social media did not only booster voter participation but shape electoral outcomes during the 2023 presidential elections and that the influence cut across distinct demographic, social, economic and cultural spectrum.

 Keywords: Democracy, Elections, Media, Presidential Elections, Social Media, Voters’ choices