The Hashtag Revolution: Examining the Role of Cultural Netizenship in Promoting Political Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

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In recent years, the proliferation of social media platformsand the widespread adoption of smartphones haveprovided a new avenue for political activism in sub-SaharanAfrica. The hashtag has emerged as a particularly powerfultool, allowing marginalized voices to be amplified andmobilizing collective action. However, the relationshipbetween cultural netizenship and political change in thiscontext is complex and not well understood. This proposalseeks to address this gap in the literature by examining therole of cultural netizenship in promoting political change insub-Saharan Africa.To address this research question, the proposed study willemploy a mixed-methods approach, including bothqualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis,with a case study analysis of three specific hashtags thathave been associated with political change in sub-SaharanAfrica: #EndSARS in Nigeria, #SilentProtest in South Africa,and #ThisFlag in Zimbabwe.Overall, this proposal seeks to contribute to a betterunderstanding of the role of cultural netizenship inpromoting political change in sub-Saharan Africa, and toprovide valuable insights for those working in the fields ofcommunication, sociology, and political science.