Gone are the days when social media was regarded as a pastime for idle teenagers and unfocused millennials. Today, social media is part of our daily lives, shaping how we think, communicate and navigate the world.
If the recent events in Kenya of mobilisation and protests for the call for justice and an inquest into the death of Albert Ojwang’ are anything to go by, we are in an era where social media has already taken centre stage in our lives. This transformation calls for us to change our view of it. Now, it must not be viewed as just an entertainment platform, but as a force that will influence change, whether positive or negative.
In Kenya, when millennials were growing up, the only place they could access social media, mainly Facebook in those days, was in an overcrowded cybercafé. Those who were slightly well off had bulky laptops and modems. Internet speed was slow, one had to wait a couple of minutes for a video to load or a post to be shared.
Currently, social media platforms have multiplied. Their access has been made easier and their power has grown a thousand times, attracting billions of people.
A number of world events have cemented the importance of social media, including US President Donald Trump’s 2024 win, which was credited to a massive and effective use of social media.
Besides this, the world has continued to get informed through social media and other platforms about some of the happenings in the world, where access to information is not guaranteed—in cases such as the Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine and Israel-Iran conflicts.
A recent report by GSMA reveals that there has been an increase in mobile internet adoption, leading to 57 per cent of the world’s population, which is about 4.6 billion people, having access to mobile internet. This global trend is mirrored in Kenya as more people get connected to the internet.
A majority of these are young people who have grown up in the age of the internet revolution and innovations that have made access to the internet easier, mobile devices cheaper and availability of information. Thanks to artificial intelligence, creating content and sharing are easier every day.
Among the fastest-growing social media platforms is TikTok, which hit over a billion users in 2021 and has continued to increase in popularity ever since. TikTok is currently the fifth most popular social media platform in the world, coming after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram, according to Meltwater, a digital monitoring firm. Together with X, which is also the most preferred in Kenya for news and information, these two platforms are completely transforming the political environment.
In Kenya, the use of social media continues to rise. Last year’s mobilisation of Gen Z against the controversial Finance Bill, 2024, was almost entirely done on X. Besides this, and beyond the protests, these platforms have led to a rise in digital entrepreneurs, comedians and influencers who tap them as a source of income.
As Kenya’s digital revolution gains momentum, there will be a rise in the use of social media, which will not only shape conversations but real-life actions; and the youth will be at the heart of this transformation. What, then, must be done?
All stakeholders – policymakers, all levels of governments, the private sector and the people – must come together to create policies that will support social media growth and usage while also protecting users. There is also a critical and urgent need to invest in data protection and privacy, and digital literacy. Besides this, there must be a balance in regulation and rights, in such a way as to enable the law to protect citizens from online harm without stifling their freedom of expression.
The challenge should never be whether social media can be used, but how it will be used for the transformation of Kenya’s democracy and development. Social media will continue to grow throughout the world, attracting usage from people from all generations.
The writer is a communication specialist
