Influence of Mass Media and Social Media Political Campaigns on Electorate in South-South during the 2019 Presidential Election in Nigeria

Abstract

The major objective of this research was to evaluate on comparative basis, the influence   of both the conventional and social media in the South-South Region during the 2019   Presidential election campaigns. The research design was survey. Both cluster and simple random sampling techniques were used. Furthermore, the instrument for collecting data was the questionnaire. Out of the 384 copies distributed based on the adopted sample size determination table, 368 copies were found useful. The findings showed that while  television was the most dominant conventional medium in terms of dependence by the respondents, WhatsApp was the most widely-used social media platform during the period. The researcher, therefore, recommended amongst others, that political  parties/candidates should engage the services of professionals in the area of political advertising and Political public relations in order to leverage on their competitive advantages.