Social media have been welcomed as important tools that contribute to satisfying the daily information needs of citizens in today’s global society. To many, they serve as an open and alternative source of information especially where the conventional media fail to play their role of serving the public’s interest first. Notwithstanding, there have been serious and legitimate concerns about the spread of fake news over social media especially during the 2016 US presidential elections (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). This coincided with the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis (CAC) in which the Cameroon government blamed social media users for spreading false information about the crisis to the extent that government shut down the Internet in the two affected Anglophone regions of the country for 93 days in 2017. This article therefore, examines the content of information (graphics, audios, videos, texts) posted on two widely used social media platforms (WhatsApp and Facebook) during the Anglophone Crisis, in order to understand how falsehood is propagated especially during crisis situations. A qualitative approach to analyse data of falsehood during the crisis was used and three major ways were identified through which falsehood was propagated. Principally, social media activists used computer software to distort pictures and superimpose content that depict the messages they wanted to pass across. They also spread rumours using texts, audio clips and distorted videos. The conclusion is that social media have been awash with falsehood in the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis. The major recommendation therefore, is that users of social media should make efforts to verify the authenticity of information obtained from such media before consuming and disseminating to others. The December 2014 Law on Terrorism in Cameroon treats such offences seriously and defaulters are severely punished with heavy jail sentences and fines.
Research concerning mobile phones and economic development in Africa has undergone rapid growth in recent years. This paper evaluates the rate at which Cameroonians use mobile phones to carry out their day-to-day business transactions and to a larger extent, investigate the type of business development brought about by mobile phones. It measures the extent to which mobile phones have enhanced business transactions among traders. In all, 100 questionnaires were administered on a face-to-face basis to business people in Buea, capital of the South West Region. The findings reveal that traders in Molyko rely mostly on mobile phones for business transactions (99%). Mobile phones have improved on their businesses by creating more business contacts (25.2%) and have brought trade closer to both producers and consumers. The data equally reveal that the use of mobile phones in business is an effective communication tool among traders (36.4%). Conclusively, the study reduces the gap between traders and consumers, which is a clear reality on the ground despites the challenges accompanying mobile phone use. Consequently, it recommends the full integration of this communication device (mobile phone) in all business transactions in Molyko in particular and other parts of Cameroon in general.
Social media provide a platform through which societies can either be constructed or destabilized. In view of the ongoing bloody conflicts in Cameroon, this study examines the extent to which social media could pose as a security threat (with particular focus on community security) amongst adolescents in Buea, capital of the South West Region in Cameroon. The study uses a quantitative approach, through the collection of data from adolescents in four communities in Buea (Muea, Bomaka, Mile 16, and Molyko). These four areas are selected because the current socio-political crisis rocking the two Anglophone regions of the country – Northwest and Southwest, is particularly severe in these communities. Social media (notably Facebook and WhatsApp) spread dangerous content, and adolescents are vulnerable to such content. Findings indicate that there is a high rate of social media use (Facebook and WhatsApp) amongst adolescents surveyed. Also, the most discussed items on social media are socio-cultural issues (68%), as opposed to political issues (17.8%). Respondents were receptive to discussions on socio-cultural issues like dressing, language and relationships. Results also show that though adolescents come across violent content on social media, they have distanced themselves from being involved in the production, consumption, and dissemination (for instance, share information as received) of such violent content, partly because of the judicial consequences of doing so, as contained in the country’s Terrorism Law of December 2014. The implication here is that, since the adolescents are not yet intoxicated (whether advertently or inadvertently) with destructive social media content, need exists for the effective education of the adolescents, to enable this vulnerable and younger population to continue desisting from negative social media content. Emphasis should be on the consumption of positive social media content that helps in the moral and psychological growth of adolescents.
This study examines the connection between social media marketing and small scale businesses' performance in Buea, Cameroon, by assessing the use of social media for brand and product awareness, sales as well as relationship building. 15 small scale business owners were interviewed through semi structured interview. The results identify a common increase in customers due to social media marketing. They equally reveal that, social media marketing has served as a tool in building brand awareness, customer relationships and reinforcing sales. Findings further indicate that for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) operators who engage in social media marketing, the benefits far outweigh the cost as they have incorporated promotional strategies and even taken supplies to customers' door steps. In order to facilitate delivery to customers' door steps, this study recommends that government should facilitate the creation of a house numbering system to ease door to door supplies of goods purchased online. This study provides some indications for using social media platforms as an ideal method of marketing.
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