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Monday,Jul 26,2010
Why the Government May Be Wrong on The New ‘Minimum’ Wage
The recent 63.7 percent increase in the national minimum wage, from N11,000 to N17,000 (or is it N18,000?) has gene....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Saturday,Jul 17,2010
Between Octopus Paul And Nigerian Juju Men And Pastors
One of the celebrities thrown up by the just concluded World Cup tournament in South Africa is the German Octopus P....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Sunday,Jul 11,2010
Igboland: When Did Things Really Begin To Fall Apart?
That the level of insecurity in Igboland has reached unacceptable level is no longer news. In virtually all parts o....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Wednesday,Jun 30,2010
Jonathan, Babangida and the Sword of Damocles
In the Sword of Damocles, the Roman politician and philosopher Cicero tells the story of Dionysius II, a king who r....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Wednesday,Jun 30,2010
Letter To “Father No Shaking” On The September 2010 Festival Of Oath-taking In Umuagwu-Aro, Osuh-Owerre, Isi-ala Mbano Local Government Area (LGA), Imo State
Dear Rev. Father, Greetings! I have to address by the above name since it is the name you are commonly kn....
By Odimegwu Onwumere
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Wednesday,Jun 23,2010
Attahiru Jega and the Search for a Nigerian Hero
Nigerians seem to be in constant search for public heroes - competent little messiahs who will not hesitate to put ....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 17,2010
The Return of Mallam Ribadu
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the one time strongman of the financial crime buster EFCC, who sneaked out of Nigeria into self....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 17,2010
Too Many Captains…
Two major attributes that have been quite easy to discern about President Goodluck Jonathan are: one, he seems to l....
By Ijeoma Nwogwugwu
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Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Should Suspects Be Paraded?
The above question is generating increasing furore among our intellectuals, and ‘beer parlour’ politica....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Nigeria: A Two Party System By Legislation?
Perhaps enamoured by the seeming ease with which two dominant political parties trod the political landscape of, at....
By Joel Nwokeoma
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Online Propaganda and Social Media
By:
Yushau A. Shuaib
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The battle ground has shifted. In an advanced society conflict is no longer resolved through the use of bows and arrows. This crude method of conflict resolution can only be found in archaic societies, for instance the Jos crisis in Northern Nigeria where victims were cut to death with machetes. Wars have also gone beyond the deployment of guns, missiles and the Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) - a claim for the justification of George Bush and Tony Blair’s arbitrary invasion of Iraq.
The new war is fought without shedding human blood. The social media is the battle ground for the interested parties where online propaganda plays prominent roles. Social media is used for advocacy and mobilisation for noble causes and on the other hand to blackmail and destroy individual and institutional reputations. One can read, listen and video live happening across the globe provided, not only by the media but the ordinary persons on the street and shared on the internet.
The emergence of the internet has brought about a range of auxiliaries to enhance communication amongst individuals and groups from the development of website, email and instant messaging. The great innovation of the decade is the social media network which has elevated human communication and activities to an exciting and scary level. The major applications and tools for social media include online forums, blogs, microblogs, social networks, bookmarking sites, online videos, podcasting and Instant Messages. The popular brands of those tools include Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Twitter, Delicious, Digg, stumbleupon and various others.
The technology has revolutionized the way we communicate, interact and play - without the need for third parties except the gadgets. One does not need to expend too much resources to read newspapers, watch TV, listen to radio, play games and with spontaneous platforms for online reactions. Business transactions, like online shopping and banking are conducted round the clock without stepping out our homes. Most of the developers of these technologies actually transform their ideas to reality from the comfort of their homes.
As exciting as these new media applications are, their impact on our lives as users, the economic improvements in the lives of the technology developers and technicians, it still calls for great concerns to humanity. The rate of divorce is increasing due to cheating on social media as unfaithful partners are easily tracked, just as professional hackers are having field day discrediting security systems of established institutions, while fraudsters milk their victims dry through tempting baits on the internet. Frustrated souls too, especially amongst youngsters now find the convenience of committing suicide through advisory from some social websites.
While social media encourages human laziness and physical social interactions, a new finding in Britain reports that the negative effect of video game and social networking websites which is blamed for the shocking rise in rickets amongst children. A freely distributed Metro newspaper, reports that spending hours in front of a computer means youngsters do not stay outdoors enough, hence, they suffer lack of vitamin D which can lead to rickets that was once associated with poverty. Kids now stay indoors more these days and play their computers instead of enjoying the natural fresh air.
As the traditional providers of those services are already in real economic recession, a massive job cut has become the order of the day as the computer provides all manner of service that were once provided by man.
The real bad news is that the next World War will not be fought with conventional armaments, but through the social media. The social media has uplifted propaganda, another tool of public relations to another level. Even in Nigeria, a country notorious for sectional infighting, parties in conflicts are using online platform to promote themselves and destroyed their opponents with malicious and some libellous campaigns, yet backed with evidences. A video of arbitrary execution of innocent citizens where uploaded on the website, with each sectional claiming to be the victims of the assault.
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Articles published on this website are reviewed before publication, which means there may be a delay between the time you sent your article and its appearance on the website. Holler Africa! reserves the right to edit articles for style and length.
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The writer should have highlighted the impact of social media in propaganda
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