Winning the electorate at any cost: Exploring the viability of adopting new media technologies for political communication on elections in Ghana

Abstract

New media technologies and their associated social media have been used by countries for a variety of purposes ranging from economics, health, education, agriculture and in recent times for politics. In politics, the focus of earlier studies has often been on developed countries, predominantly the United States of America. Little is known about the use of these technologies for political communication on elections in Africa, particularly in Ghana. This essay provides a perspective on the viability of political parties using new media technologies to communicate their manifestoes to citizens in elections in Ghana. The essay, which presents a peek into an ongoing research project, attempts to tease out the gap in communication literature about how new media could be exploited as a potential communication strategy that could enhance online political communication and campaigns during election periods in Ghana.