Entertainment Africa
Previous research showed that Twitter in Africa was more of a space for social interaction. Now serious debate about politics and government prevails. Twitter continues to be one of the most popular social networks available in Africa, enabled through a heavy mobile usage and apps that cater to smartphone users.
We take a look at 12 things you should know about how Africans use Twitter.
Mobile dominates
Twitter is able to thrive on the African continent for the simple fact that the platform is easily accessible via mobile phones, both feature and smartphone. More than half a billion people across Africa now subscribe to mobile services, with that number set to reach 725 million by 2020.
Using hashtags to express collective sentiment
African hashtags such as #BringBackOurGirls in Nigeria and #FeesMustFall in South Africa have gone viral globally with Twitter users from around the globe showing solidarity with the Nigerian terror victims and the South African student protesters respectively.
Egyptians tweet a lot
According to the ‘How Africa Tweets’ study by Portland Communications, Egypt was the African country that tweeted the most, with around 500 million tweets coming from the North African nation.
Educating the world about Africa
Hashtags such as #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou have become popular means for showing off interesting and positive aspects of the African continent, with users throughout the world able to see images of the continent that are not always forthcoming through the international media.
African heads of state are on Twitter
Donald Trump is not the only world leader who loves to communicate in posts of less than 140 characters. African heads of state and politicians make use of social media to communicate with peers and the people they serve. From Kenya to Egypt, high-profile African heads of state tweet, retweet and reply to followers.
Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya enjoy Twitter too
According to the same Portland Communications study, Nigeria was second with 360 million tweets, with South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana posting 325 million, 125 million, and 70 million tweets respectively. Africa tweeted 1.86 billion times during 2015 (the study period) in total.
Most African Twitter posts are in English
More political debate in Africa than the US and UK
During the period of study, politics was found to be an important subject in Africa compared to the Western world. In fact, 10 of the most popular topics were about politics, compared with one in 50 for both the United Kingdom and America.
