Is #hashtivism really effective in Kenya?

In Summary

• Beyond the lethargy, Kenyans are their own worst enemies when it comes to demanding better governance because their reasoning is clouded by the ever-present tribal cum political affiliations.
• #MyPresidentMyChoice, for example, is suspected to be the government-sponsored online response to the recent #OccupyHarambeeAve that seems to be mutating into more offensive hashtags against the President.
• Both  the government and online activists risk losing focus when online voices are hired to shout the loudest while the elephant in the room remains unattended to.

By JOHN WALUBENGO
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Hashtivism is a word arising from mixing the two words "hashtag" and "activisim". A hashtag (#) is used on Twitter to enable users to search or link through related messages sourced from multiple users.

The recent report from the Communications Authority of Kenya estimates the number of Kenyans online to be 22 million or slightly above 50 per cent of the population. Of this number, Social Bakers, an online media research company estimates that about four million Kenyans are on Facebook while around 1.5 million are active users of Twitter.

With these numbers, the hashtag is therefore a potent weapon and a unifying factor on Twitter, a call to action of sorts for the 1.5 million Twitter people, or tweeps, in Kenya.

Indeed the tweeps have been active, with several hashtags having hit the scene in recent times. In recent days, #OccupyHarambeeAve, #ManderaBusAttack and #MyDressMyChoice were among the most popular and were trending for several days.

#OccupyHarambeeAve was a call to action to protest against the increasing spate of terrorism and ethnic clashes in the pastoral communities in the North. #ManderaBusAttack was created following the heinous bus attack by terrorists on innocent Kenyans in Mandera. #MyDressMyChoice arose from the unacceptable and illogical forcible undressing of women by men who considered them skimpily dressed.

IF TWITTER COULD VOTE

These hashtags allow Kenyans to vent and organise online, but it remains to be seen if at all this is effective in influencing good governance and accountability.

Kenyans have been considered too lazy to move from their keyboards onto the streets to fight for their rights or better governance.

The number of Kenyans who eventually showed up on the streets to demonstrate their anger at the #ManderaBusAttack and the sporadic undressing of women in public was not commensurate to the size of the social media outbursts that the hashtags documented.

​The common online joke for this lethargy is that if Twitter or Facebook could vote, Peter Kenneth would today be sitting in Statehouse as the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya. He had more Facebook likes and Twitter followers than his final tally in the last presidential election.

TRIBAL AFFILIATION

Beyond the lethargy, Kenyans are their own worst enemies when it comes to demanding better governance because their reasoning is clouded by the ever-present tribal-cum-political affiliations.

What starts off as an honest online demand for better security services often gets deflated and sacrificed at the altar of “them versus us”. Never mind that terrorism does not strike according to tribal affiliation or how one periodically votes in general elections.

But that is not to say online activism is really not effective in Kenya, because some instances of online outrage have turned into real action.

A case in point is the attempt by the government to airlift President's Uhuru Kenyatta's Madaraka Day speech to the counties at a cost of 500 million shillings.

Under the hashtag #SpeechYa500K, Kenyans vigorously complained online, and although nobody hit the streets, the decision was revoked.

So it does seem that citizens can call their leadership to account through a concerted social media campaign.

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

However, the other side has also learnt the online game and has in the recent past hit back with a targeted and sustained online campaign that counters any activist view.

#MyPresidentMyChoice, for example, is suspected to be the government-sponsored online response to the recent #OccupyHarambeeAve that seems to be mutating into more offensive hashtags against the President.

It is unfortunate that hashtivism, or online activism for good governance, is turning out to be a matter of whose hashtag is more popular at the expense of concerns over governance or security.

Both the government and online activists risk losing focus when online voices are hired to shout the loudest while the elephant in the room remains unattended to.

Both sides end up poisoning the social media space to the point where it becomes impossible to mine useful feedback and trends from it.

This will eventually render hashtivism ineffective to both sides of the divide. Let us all #KeepThePeace.