IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE PROPAGATION OF RELIGION AND PEACE BUILDING EFFORTS IN JOS, PLATEAU STATE

Abstract

Religion has a significant effect on people’s lives. It impacts human behaviour, thoughts, moral standards, attitudes, and values. Similarly, social media has significant influence and negative impacts on the people, religion and the society, depending on how the actors and operators of each platform use the social media tool. The import of this research is to analyse the influence of the use and impacts of social media on religion and peace building efforts aimed at achieving peaceful coexistence in communities. This research adopts the desk-top strategy of qualitative research. Twenty-three source materials were analysed, to identify the strength and weakness in the use of social media tools, as well as harness possible solutions to ameliorate the weaknesses. The findings revealed that the effective and contextual use of the different social media tools enable the church to continuously educate its member, provide oversight, and help in the effective dissemination of the gospel message of peace to a wider audience, without geographical or religious limitations. Similarly, through peace building education and citizen journalism, the youth are being equipped to be useful vanguards of peaceful coexistence in their respective communities.The research recommends that the church should identify and adapt the social media tools suitable for their congregation, invest in their development progressively, conduct periodic monitoring and evaluation of content and productions quality. Furthermore, the respective communities, interest groups, concerned citizens and policy makers, should give priority to peace building education strategies, helping the youths to be active in citizen journalism and be discrete in forwarding social media content. This will enhance the communication of true stories, checkmate false information and ensure peace within the communities.