Context of the Ghanaian Government: Social Media and Access to Information

Often overlooked–especially since Africa and technology are not usually encountered together–such innovative thinking concerning the political use of social media is rare in all its circumstances. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Conrad’s famous description of the European colonial invasion still lingers in the minds of the West. The paper investigates the extent of social media use by the Ghanaian government and how it compares to other OECD countries. By using data from Twitter, the results show that the Ghanaian government’s social media accounts are openly accessible. The government leverages the power of Twitter as an important informational and participatory medium in increasing people’s awareness and engagement in the government. The extent of the government’s social media use is quite comparable to other countries in the OECD region. Social media may not have enormous social and economic value creation impact; developing countries like Ghana with limited financial resources can make good use of the platform.