Adaptive Structuration Theory and The Role of Social Computing Sites in the Biafran Struggle.

Abstract

Front Matter Abstract \ On May 30th,2017, a sit-at-home order was planned by organisers of the struggle for a sovereign Biafran statel . This protest was largely mobilised via social computing sites such as twitter and Facebook andwas deemed a success due to the unprecedented level of compliance across the south-eastern region of Nigerid. However, this success did no t c olr e sp ond w it h t he p att e rns de duc e dfr o m t he #B i afr a tw it te r ne tw o r k. The ne tw o r k was lacking in terms of poor coherence in their message, shabbily crafted narratives etc. So, could there be something more at play in driving the success of these social media inspired campaigns, andwould that deliver the longlerm goals of independence for the 'Biafran state'? This research explores these issues using NodeXL analytic tool to analyse the interaction of these groups on the #Biafra twitter network. The findings are then discussed using Adaptive structuration theory to explore the existing gaps in the impact of social computing sites on self-determination groups in south eastern Nigeria, By doing so, I deduced that, the interaction between socio-political entities and technolog,t is an iterative one between technology, tasks and grqups understanding of the two. Furthermore, while social computing sites was used as an...