FEMINISM DISCOURSE ON TWITTERSPHERE: THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN THE SOCIAL SYSTEMS OF NIGERIAN WOMEN

Abstract

Feminists aim to create a more equitable society by addressing systemic gender-based inequalities, advocating for gender rights and opportunities, and ultimately eliminating gender-based discrimination. A crucial aspect of achieving this goal involves narrowing the information and knowledge gap and bridging the digital divide in societies. Creating a more just and equitable society for women will reduce the socio-economic and social system disparities between men and women and also create a more egalitarian society. While social media plays a significant role in advancing these efforts, it remains unclear how many issues raised and discussed on Twitter (now X) are categorised as feminist discourse, and which are perceived as casual banter by users. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to comprehend and address the information and knowledge gap and the associated digital divide, as evidenced by feminism discourse on Twitter. This paper, grounded in both Feminist Theory and the Knowledge Gap theory, delves into Twitter discourse related to feminism. Data for this research is collated using simple random sampling and constructed week sampling, involving the content analysis of tweets. In conclusion, this paper explores how the digital divide impacts Nigerian women’s participation in feminist discourse on Twitter. Additionally, it shows the effect of socio-economic disparities also shapes their online involvements, viewpoints and the general value of feminist engagement. Therefore, reducing these societal divides, especially through the utilisation of Artificial Intelligence, can significantly improve feminist activities and enhance women's socio-economic status in Nigeria.