Abstract:

This study analysed social media discourse on the activities of IPOB/ESN and Rivers State
residents’ perception of the Igbo living in the state. With four research questions with the key
question, to what extent did social media discourse on the activities of IPOB/ESN influence the
perception of residents of Oyigbo LGA of the Igbo living in Rivers State, as a guide, the study built
its theoretical framework on the framing and agenda-setting theories. With a triangulated design,
combining content analysis and survey, the study threw up two populations: 137,080 drawn from
Oyigbo residents and 14,820, drawn from the total number of posts from the online blogs analysed.
The sample sizes of 383 and 390 were drawn from the populations using Meyer's Sample size
determination and Taro Yamane's statistical percentage method, respectively. The study’s findings
showed that the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its sister arm, the Eastern
Security Network (ESN), received a significantly high attention in terms of discourse on social
media, though the discourse was neutral. The findings also showed that though there was a level of
relationship between this social media discourse and the beliefs of other resident groups about the
Igbos living in the state, this discourse did not ultimately influence significantly, the perception of
these resident groups about the Igbos living in the state. The study recommended that social media
networks should increase measures and checks to filter posts and stories on their platforms that
inject biases into stories that relate to the activities of separatist groups and their larger ethnic
populations.