Social Media and Governance: Appropriation and Modalities of Use in Kakamega County Governance in Kenya

Brenda Mulama
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Brenda Mulama: Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nairobi, Kenya

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2022, vol. 6, issue 4, 94-99

Abstract: Continuous communication to citizens is significant in any government. Therefore, employing social media as a communication tool in accessing public opinion is imperative. The two tiers of government in Kenya- central and county are progressively incorporating social media. To determine the efficacy and use of social media, there is a need to examine how it is used at the grassroots. This study looked at how the County Government of Kakamega in Kenya is using social media to enhance governance based on the factors informing appropriation of social media and modalities of use of social media in governance. A mixed-methods approach, using the convergent parallel mixed-method research design was utilized. The target population was 34 participants in charge of the communication units at the County. The study concluded that Facebook was the overriding social media platform for enhancing governance and that social media use in governance is ineffective in the Kakamega county government. The study recommends that the county government should train more personnel on social media and digital marketing tools to enhance the usage of social media to disseminate information to the residents. It is hoped that the findings of this research will benefit scholarship as social media is still a new sensation, especially at the grassroots, and there is a significant gap on what it can and cannot do in relation to governance.

Date: 2022
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