Authors :
Caleb Terhemba Ikyernum; Dr. Patrick Reid
Volume/Issue :
Volume 8 - 2023, Issue 11 - November
Google Scholar :
https://tinyurl.com/yry8nh74
Scribd :
https://tinyurl.com/yc6ksr7h
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10242343
Abstract :
The increasing significance of the effects of climate change in Nigeria necessitates research on how stakeholders can
respond. With climate change being a major focus of global action, and social media emerging as a key tool for social
mobilization, this research focuses on understanding how Nigeria's social media space can be leveraged to improve climate
change mobilization among Nigerian users. To understand the current interactions with climate change topics, this study
examined Nigeria's Twitter space, analyzing the level of engagement and sentiments about climate change. Furthermore,
the research involved a climate change knowledge survey targeting social media users and key informant interviews with
communication stakeholders. An engagement and sentiment analysis revealed that while there is comparatively lower
engagement on the subject of climate change in Nigeria’s social media space, the engagements documented are
significantly more positive when compared to those in western English-speaking countries such as the USA, Canada, the
United Kingdom, and Australia. Analysis of the climate change knowledge survey supported these findings, with a sample
of 175 social media users returning a climate change knowledge score of over 86%. Despite the high awareness of climate
change and the comparatively positive sentiments of Nigerian social media users on the subject, Nigerians considered
other elements of development to be more important than climate change. However, the significant variation in the
perception of climate change between female and male participants provided a potential entry point for promoting climate
change discussions in communities. Since female community members exhibited statistically significantly higher awareness
of the importance of climate change compared to their male counterparts, it is recommended that women in the
community be utilized as entry points for both virtual and physical community-level climate change advocacy.
The increasing significance of the effects of climate change in Nigeria necessitates research on how stakeholders can
respond. With climate change being a major focus of global action, and social media emerging as a key tool for social
mobilization, this research focuses on understanding how Nigeria's social media space can be leveraged to improve climate
change mobilization among Nigerian users. To understand the current interactions with climate change topics, this study
examined Nigeria's Twitter space, analyzing the level of engagement and sentiments about climate change. Furthermore,
the research involved a climate change knowledge survey targeting social media users and key informant interviews with
communication stakeholders. An engagement and sentiment analysis revealed that while there is comparatively lower
engagement on the subject of climate change in Nigeria’s social media space, the engagements documented are
significantly more positive when compared to those in western English-speaking countries such as the USA, Canada, the
United Kingdom, and Australia. Analysis of the climate change knowledge survey supported these findings, with a sample
of 175 social media users returning a climate change knowledge score of over 86%. Despite the high awareness of climate
change and the comparatively positive sentiments of Nigerian social media users on the subject, Nigerians considered
other elements of development to be more important than climate change. However, the significant variation in the
perception of climate change between female and male participants provided a potential entry point for promoting climate
change discussions in communities. Since female community members exhibited statistically significantly higher awareness
of the importance of climate change compared to their male counterparts, it is recommended that women in the
community be utilized as entry points for both virtual and physical community-level climate change advocacy.
