Social media as an alternative in Tanzanian politics

Neutrality and affordances further underscore the role of context in determining the efficiency of social media. This can be explained through PMP (Politics-Media-Politics) principle, which explains the role of media in politics using contextual lenses. The PMP principle views the role of media as imbricative – meaning that changes in political practices lead to changes in media performance, which leads to further political changes in the political environment. With the banning political rallies in Tanzania, this principle would suggest a change in the role of social media, which in turn affects politics. Thus the question remains, to what extent has a temporal ban on political rallies and overall shrinking civic space in Tanzania influenced the role of social media in defining the subsequent political activities?

While a temporal ban on political rallies is a potential reason for shifting political activities to social media platforms, the impact of this shift to political parties is still undetermined. Oftentimes, debates on democratic potential of social media platforms are constrained by the attention of individual agency with assumption that individual participation and realisation of the politics of self will connect people with a wider movement where significant political transformation and social change can happen. This might not be the case. It is arguable that the Mange Kimambi online campaigns prior to April 26th planned demonstrations was the case in point of high expectation of an individual agency. Literature shows that an individual can actually undermine the collective efforts. Thus social media can affect internal politics of collective groups such as political parties through self-centred forms of communication. In light of that, the assumption that social media reinforces collective creativity of social movement is sometimes challenged.

Social media as an alternative in Tanzanian politics

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