Beyond ‘networked individuals’: social-media and citizen-led accountability in political protests

The accessibility of social media and communication platforms such as WhatsApp in sub-Saharan Africa has expanded exponentially over the past decade. The benefits are that new communities of ‘networked individuals’ outside of the traditional geographic localities have emerged. The capacity of ordinary citizens to autonomously gather, process and publish information has taken away states’ monopoly over information, enabling citizens to form alternative narratives and influence the course of political discourse. Local conflicts and grievances have also been globalised, building a critical base for evidence-based advocacy. Yet not all communities have achieved these ideals, partly because citizens have remained ‘loosely connected individuals’ unable to transform their ­‘networks’ into agents of change and reform. This article is aimed at exploring how this transformation can be achieved. Based on field research on social media activism and internet-based movements in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, this article explores how social media as a tool for citizen-led accountability can be institutionalised and transformed from ‘networked individuals’ to change agents able to hold government to account.