Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp are essential in university students' daily politics. In Uganda, where the university administration and the Ugandan regime limit party politics, students have turned to social media to share political messages, acquire political knowle...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences
2025
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/3001 |
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| author | Solomon, Winyi Omach, Paul Makara, Sabiti |
| author_facet | Solomon, Winyi Omach, Paul Makara, Sabiti |
| author_sort | Solomon, Winyi |
| collection | KAB-DR |
| description | Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp are essential in university students' daily politics. In Uganda, where the university administration and the Ugandan regime limit party politics, students have turned to social media to share political messages, acquire political knowledge, create public opinion, and mobilize peers. Some university administrations have prohibited partisan politics, and the regime has used legal frameworks such as the Public Order Management Act 2013 to prevent the opposition from recruiting and mobilizing students. The purpose of the paper was to investigate the role of social media on student politics, specifically guild elections, at four regionally selected universities. The study used a mixed method approach, including 12 in-depth interviews, a survey of 182 students, and documentary reviews. The findings highlight two significant issues: First, social media use constantly influences politics during election season and throughout the year. Second, given the constraints imposed by the university administration and the regime, social media has given students an alternative political platform. |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:idr.kab.ac.ug:20.500.12493-3001 |
| institution | KAB-DR |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oai:idr.kab.ac.ug:20.500.12493-30012025-10-25T00:00:28Z Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities Solomon, Winyi Omach, Paul Makara, Sabiti student politics political parties university administration democracy and political communication Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp are essential in university students' daily politics. In Uganda, where the university administration and the Ugandan regime limit party politics, students have turned to social media to share political messages, acquire political knowledge, create public opinion, and mobilize peers. Some university administrations have prohibited partisan politics, and the regime has used legal frameworks such as the Public Order Management Act 2013 to prevent the opposition from recruiting and mobilizing students. The purpose of the paper was to investigate the role of social media on student politics, specifically guild elections, at four regionally selected universities. The study used a mixed method approach, including 12 in-depth interviews, a survey of 182 students, and documentary reviews. The findings highlight two significant issues: First, social media use constantly influences politics during election season and throughout the year. Second, given the constraints imposed by the university administration and the regime, social media has given students an alternative political platform. 2025-10-24T09:51:46Z 2025-10-24T09:51:46Z 2023 Article Winyi, S., Omach, P., & Makara, S. (2023). Social media use and student politics in Ugandan universities. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 14(5). https://doi.org/10.36941/mjss-2023-0029 2039-2117 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/3001 en Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ application/pdf Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences |
| spellingShingle | student politics political parties university administration democracy and political communication Solomon, Winyi Omach, Paul Makara, Sabiti Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities |
| title | Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities |
| title_full | Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities |
| title_fullStr | Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities |
| title_short | Social Media Use and Student Politics in Ugandan Universities |
| title_sort | social media use and student politics in ugandan universities |
| topic | student politics political parties university administration democracy and political communication |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/3001 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT solomonwinyi socialmediauseandstudentpoliticsinugandanuniversities AT omachpaul socialmediauseandstudentpoliticsinugandanuniversities AT makarasabiti socialmediauseandstudentpoliticsinugandanuniversities |