Abstract

THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL IDENTITIES ON FACEBOOK AND ITS DEMOCRATIZATION POTENTIAL IN ETHIOPIA

Zelalem Tesfaye Worku

Volume: 7 Issue: 3 2017

Abstract:

This study was conducted to examine, the discursive construction of political identity on Facebook and its democratization potential in Ethiopia. The study, has analyzed the Facebook pages of two major and competing political parties in Ethiopia namely the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), and Semayawi (Blue) party. The study specifically employed a Qualitative Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) among the multi-methodical approach in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) whose analysis revealed that the selected political parties, for the most part, used Facebook to construct positive self and negative other images in Ethiopian political sphere. Facebook has also been found to serve as a forum to create polarized collective identity and discourses typified by fragmentation, flaming and incivility in Ethiopia.

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