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The general objective of the study was to assess the impacts of social networking
towards citizens’ involvement in politics in Tanzania particularly in Dar es Salaam. The
study specifically assess types of social networks used by the citizens in accessing
political issues in Tanzania, the extent to which social networks contributes to political
awareness to the Tanzanian citizens, and the extent to which social networking users
participate in politics.
The study used questionnaires that were disseminated to the political parties’ officials
and political parties’ voters (citizens) those having access to internet and living in Dar es
Salaam. The study was conducted as a survey study whereby the researcher visited
political parties’ offices and internet cafés in Dar es Salaam. The total number of 50
questionnaires was distributed to the individuals concerned in this study. Judgmental
non probability sampling was used to select the respondents from the areas understudy.
The study also used interview and observation. Secondary data related to the study were
collected from books, internet, and journals.
The study discovered that the types of social networks used included Face book,
Twitter, Jamii forum, Online Newspaper and blogs. The study also revealed that most
citizens do access the internet every day. Also it revealed that there was strong
contribution of the social networks towards political awareness in Tanzania. However
the study revealed that there was moderate utilization of online media by the Tanzanian
politicians in discussing political issues with citizens. And the extent to which social
networks users participate in politics was mostly by reading online information.
Furthermore, the study discovered that the impacts of social network towards citizens’
involvement in politics increased political awareness, knowledge of national issues,
promotes right to expression, wastage of production time, and influence poor social
behavior. The study recommended to the political parties and voters (citizens) to ensure
that the right information is exchanged from each other. The study also recommended
for further study to include more than one region. |
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