The Impact of Social Media in Creating Social Justice Reform in The South African Political Sphere During Election Campaigns

• Pages: 187-198
• Date: 01 December 2021
• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Author: Amukelani Collen Mangaka,Ndivhuwo Doctor Sundani
• Subject Matter: Derecho Público y Administrativo

Special Issue

December, 2021

European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2519-1284

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

232

The Impact of Social Media in Creating Social Justice Reform in The South

African Political Sphere During Election Campaigns

Amukelani Collen Mangaka

Ndivhuwo Doctor Sundani

University of South Africa

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of social media in creating social justice reform in South

African politics during election campaigns. The study seeks to (1) examine the impact of social

media in creating social justice reform in the political sphere during election campaigns, (2)

establish the inuence of social media on voters’ behaviour during election campaigns and (3)

propose strategies that political parties can employ to enhance their communication strategies

during election campaigns. Social media engagement (SME) theory was used as the main

theoretical framework of the study. Qualitative research methodology was adopted in this

study to achieve the study’s objectives. Data was collected from the previous literature and

was analysed through descriptive analysis. It was discovered that social media platforms do

not only help to inform society but also to encourage political discourse and allow candidates

and elected ocials to not only communicate with but interact with voters in numbers. This

study intends to contribute to the increasing knowledge on the ecacy of social media in

creating social justice reform during elections.

Keywords: Election campaigns, social justice, social media, politics, reform

Introduction and background to the study

The advent of social media has certainly unravelled many possibilities for robust

engagement, debate and collaboration in the political process. It has also brought

more transparency and inclusivity in the democratic processes as well as signif‌icantly

transformed existing paerns of political communication, political participation,

political mobilisation and collective actions among voters (Dabula, 2016). Social media

has had a signif‌icant impact on almost all areas of society, including political life

(Mhlomi & Osunkunle, 2017:179). However, the political process cannot be discussed

without political communication. In this regard, Alam and Yousuf (2021) def‌ine

political communication as a body of knowledge that entails dierent elements such

as sources, messages, channels, recipients and impacts. Similarly, Hlungwani (2021)

indicated that political communication incorporates the production, distribution,

receiving, and encoding of messages that can have a signif‌icant direct or indirect

impact on politics.

In the past few years, there has been a drastic increase in the number of people using

social media platforms (Facebook, Twier, YouTube, Pinterest), as they are collectively

known, and this growth has impacted directly the way political campaigns are run

and how politicians communicate with their electorate (Malherbe, 2015). In support of