This study examines the impact of citizens' use of social media for political participation and expression in developing democracies of Africa in particular Uganda. Findings from studied N = 2,400 respondents, evidenced social media does matter in the developing democracy of Uganda as the second most preferred form of media (.95 ± 2.37). Findings also showed the use of social media for political participation in persuading others to vote for a given candidate or party was positively correlated r = .043*(p value at .05), n = 2,400, and p = .035 with R2 = .002. Future studies should examine the use of social media platforms for policy implementation, civic engagement, and inclusiveness.

Advancement in the use of information technologies (ITs) has contributed to the invention of new communicative features, in particular social media networks. In developed economies, use of social media contributed to the digitally networked action (DNA) of Occupy Wall Street and los indignados in Spain. Through use of social media, European cities digitally connected and collectively called upon world leaders to eradicate poverty, create jobs, and show commitment to climate change during the G20 summit. In the developing economies of Africa, there is need for scholarly studies that examine how technologies, in particular social media networks, have been adopted in building a DNA based on informally shared knowledge. This study focuses on examining how connectivity through social media technology helped in mobilizing the Ugandan Community to support a DNA for girl child education necessities of sanitary requirements. This was through a digitally networked #Pads4GirlsUg campaign based on assumptions of social identity theory to build on connectivity theorization. Findings in this ethnography study contribute new knowledge in understanding how IT creates awareness based on informally shared knowledge resulting into DNA. The studied DNA increased levels of awareness and mobilized Ugandan communities to support girl child education. Over 2000 girls in different parts of Uganda benefited from digitally mobilized sanitary requirements and resulted in the government scrapping valueadded tax on sanitary requirements. In future studies, the use of IT for DNA should be investigated, as well as its contributions to policy at national, regional, and international levels.

Technology affordances enable citizens to digitally connect and collectively act towards realization of established economic goals of a given country. This paper contributes to scholarly discussions on the effects of social media tax on Africa's economic growth. For African economies to grow, there is need to abolish social media tax and device means through which social media discussions that generate billions of data are captured and analyzed to guide policymaking processes aimed at economic growth. We connote that social media tax disengages the government from its citizens that access information through social media platforms. The tax is a hindrance to realization of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA‐2024) and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063.