5 Ways Twitter has Impacted on the Average Nigerian Youth

1. Keep Youths Informed:
I remember on Independence day last year, when people were tweeting (that's what we call updates on twitter) positive things about Nigeria, I twitted something close to this "Forget CNN, in Nigeria we've got Twitter". Apparently that was a very wrong move as I soon discovered by the amount of people poking fun at me for haven suggested that Twitter was founded by a Nigerian. I remember that day in mortification. Lol. On the contrary, what I had in mind was more in the lines of Twitter being a medium of information dissemination. Not everyone is privy to watch/hear the news as it breaks, for a number of reasons ranging from power outage (thanks to PHCN), to lack of interest in news in general. However with the amount of opinionated youths on Twitter, a large percentage of what we know about happenings around the world is heard first on the social media with people making assertions about the causes of the events and their implications.

2. Increase Political Participation:
Call me ignorant, but I can't carry on a discourse on politics for more than 20minutes, even with you taking reins of the conversation. Ok, I'm sure I'm not that bad, but while I understand the importance of being in the know, especially as regards one's political environment, extended "political debacle" sees the beginnings of a mild headache for me. That was, until I was exposed to politics the Twitter way. On here, seeing your fellow youths passionate about the country and so well versed in politics does something to you. It challenges you. Awakens you to the realization that instead of complaining about the powers that be, you can contribute your quota to ensure that change is brought about in the political system. This is evident in the success of the recently conducted voters registration, in which Twitter was used as a medium of mobilization. So much so that voting or promoting it became associated with "being cool".

3. Promote Brands:
The average person is exposed to an avalanche of advertisements daily with the mass media promoting one brand or the other at a cost. The major idea being to sell goods and services. However, on Twitter, one needs little or no money to showcase oneself/ offering to the virtual world. On Twitter, the average youth is both copy writer and graphics designer; client and audience, responsible solely for packaging him or herself into a marketable brand worth paying attention to. Some great projects were birthed and promoted on Twitter, likes of Funturf Soccer Fiesta for example.

4. Build Relationships:
When you hear the word "relationship", the first thing that comes to mind is the romantic kind, between male and female. While Twitter is responsible for a fair share of romantic relationships, its also responsible for building other kinds of "ships"; Friendship and Partnership. One of the major functions of social media is "networking". Fostering relationships between and among people based on some common ground irrespective of age, sex or geographical location. On Twitter, you meet and interact with some of the greatest people who will remain a part of your life forever. There are the smart ones, the funny ones, the rude ones, the overly friendly ones, the intellectual ones, the boring ones, the flirts and of course the ones who are plain loco. Whatever your taste, its on the menu.

5. End Relationships:
There is a thin line between love and hate, it is often said, and in this case, Twitter is that thin line. It destroys relationships, just as fast as it starts them. Be it relationships born and bred on Twitter, or those outside of Twitter, its caused a number of them to hit rock bottom. There is a popular Twitter saying, "by their tweets, you shall know them" which is replied with yet another saying, "I'm not my tweets". Basically, the assumption is that you can tell a lot about a person by their tweets. While there is some sense in this, there are also those who have an alter ego on Twitter and as such lead a deceitful life on here . In a case where one party assumes a connection with this "alter ego" and starts off a relationship based on this assumption, the result most times is a full fledged bitter break up, upon finding out the other party's true color.



So there you have it. These are the top five ways Twitter has contributed to the average Nigerian youth, in MY opinion. Feel free to agree, disagree or comment.