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The Role of Social Media in Mobilizing the #EndSARS2020 Protest in Lagos State, Nigeria
Subject area: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities · Area of research: Mass Communication
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I8-1714475
Abstract
This study explains the role of social media in mobilizing the #EndSARS2020 protest in Lagos State, Nigeria, exploring how online communication platforms helps in achieving civic participation, coordination, and organization. The #EndSARS movement, initially a digital campaign against police brutality, evolved into a nationwide protest largely driven by the active use` of social media. To provide a theoretical foundation, the research adopts an integrated framework combining the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), Connective Action Theory, and Resource Mobilization Theory. The Uses and Gratifications Theory explains the individual motivations that led Nigerian youths to use social media for information sharing, social interaction, and self-expression during the protest. Connective Action Theory highlights how decentralized, network-based communication transformed personal expressions into large-scale collective mobilization without formal leadership. Meanwhile, Resource Mobilization Theory underscores how social media served as an organizing infrastructure for acquiring and deploying resources such as funding, logistics, and public support. A mixed-methods approach involving social media content analysis, interviews, and documentary review was used, focusing on Lagos as the centre of protest activity. Findings reveal that social media enabled real-time communication, enhanced participant motivation, and strengthened collective coordination, thereby shaping the dynamics of political activism in the digital era. The study concludes that social media platforms are critical tools for empowering civic engagement and sustaining contemporary youth-led social movements in Nigeria.
Keywords
#EndSARS, social media, Digital activism, Police brutality.
How to cite this paper
@article{1714475,
author = {Aluko Sunday Adeboye, Taiwo Micheal Tolulope, Oshinfisan Monsurat Oyindamola},
title = {The Role of Social Media in Mobilizing the #EndSARS2020 Protest in Lagos State, Nigeria},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {9},
number = {8},
pages = {2437-2449},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1714475.pdf},
abstract = {This study explains the role of social media in mobilizing the #EndSARS2020 protest in Lagos State, Nigeria, exploring how online communication platforms helps in achieving civic participation, coordination, and organization. The #EndSARS movement, initially a digital campaign against police brutality, evolved into a nationwide protest largely driven by the active use` of social media. To provide a theoretical foundation, the research adopts an integrated framework combining the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), Connective Action Theory, and Resource Mobilization Theory. The Uses and Gratifications Theory explains the individual motivations that led Nigerian youths to use social media for information sharing, social interaction, and self-expression during the protest. Connective Action Theory highlights how decentralized, network-based communication transformed personal expressions into large-scale collective mobilization without formal leadership. Meanwhile, Resource Mobilization Theory underscores how social media served as an organizing infrastructure for acquiring and deploying resources such as funding, logistics, and public support. A mixed-methods approach involving social media content analysis, interviews, and documentary review was used, focusing on Lagos as the centre of protest activity. Findings reveal that social media enabled real-time communication, enhanced participant motivation, and strengthened collective coordination, thereby shaping the dynamics of political activism in the digital era. The study concludes that social media platforms are critical tools for empowering civic engagement and sustaining contemporary youth-led social movements in Nigeria.},
keywords = {#EndSARS, social media, Digital activism, Police brutality.},
month = {February},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I8-1714475}
}