Qualitative Analysis Of Social Media

This chapter can be termed as being the most important part of this thesis. It basically review the process of conducting an overall analysis of the information and data acquired and checking its dependability by triangulation. It represents the findings and analysis of the data that was collected from various respondents from various universities across the island. And as such, quantitative and qualitative analysis have been made for the data collected from questionnaires and interviews conducted.

4.1 Introduction

An analysis is usually done with the direct purpose of not only coming to a conclusion but also supporting it and the assumption presented in the dissertation. Divided into two parts, the two main features of data analysis are the

According to Hanson et al (2010), citizens are encouraged on SNSs to “create their own political content, distribute it online and comment on the contents created by others” (p.585). As a matter of fact, both traditional media and new media are essential. This is as such because they both act like a ‘watchdog’ and serve as an electoral campaign platform which eventually reinforce democracy (Elchahabi and Gallagher.2015). Social media has metamorphosed the way political actors and candidates communicate with the population while also giving the opportunity for a two-way communication and connection in turn generating awareness and support of the government’s initiatives. . In the last few years, we have been witnessing both the positive and negative changes, effects and impacts of social media on the society. Four political events around the world that were massively impacted by SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter are, the Arab Spring, Japan Crisis, DePauw Movement and last but not the least the Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign

In Mauritius as well social media seems to be overtaking many employment spheres such as politics, education, and marketing among others. The internet and social media have now become a daily need for a major part of the population. After conducting the survey, it could be analysed that out of 100 respondents, a large majority thought that political campaigns have evolved over the years in a more efficient and effective manner. According to them, with the advent of social media, the political system has transformed as a whole. MP, Mr. Sangeet Fowdar, stated that political campaigns have faced a major change since 2014 with the introduction, development and constant usage of SNSs. For him, this change is bringing many positive aspects. For example, the increased involvement of the youth in politics as never before. Furthermore, according to Chan Meetoo, senior lecturer at UOM and media specialist, political campaigns have not changed fundamentally in terms of quality of information but they have surely changed but only in terms of cosmetics, expanding their reach and advent of new media which is good. Hence, it can be stated that the usage of new media in political campaigns is still in a state of development in Mauritius but it is a sure fact in the upcoming elections it will actively upraise its level. It is a sure thing that there is much time before Mauritius could attain the level of foreign states but with growing importance