WHATSAPP FOR SOCIAL ACTIVISM IN ETHIOPIA? RESEARCH IN PROGRESS FROM US DIPLOMACY LAB

Devendra Potnis1|Dawit Demissie2|Jeni Trimmer1| Jaime Cleek1

1: University of Tennessee at Knoxville2: The Sage Colleges

OVERVIEW1. US Diplomacy Lab

2. Project 84: Leveraging the Use of WhatsApp to Spread the U.S. Message

3. Our Approach

4. Findings and Implications

5. Future Research

6. References

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1. US DIPLOMACY LAB• Mission• Launched by the Department of State in 2013, Diplomacy Lab is a public-

private partnership that enables the State Department to "course-source" research and innovation related to foreign policy challenges by harnessing the efforts of students and faculty experts at colleges and universities across the United States

• Alliance • Diplomacy Lab is a partnership between the Department and U.S. colleges

and universities. • Partner schools participating in Diplomacy Lab conduct research around

various topics presented to them by the State Department

• Pillars• Engagement• Education

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2. PROJECT 84LEVERAGING THE USE OF WHATSAPP TO SPREAD THE U.S. MESSAGE • Problem statement by the US Department of State• Forget Facebook, forget Twitter…WhatsApp is the new hero!• WhatsApp, the most widely used mobile app in the world with over 1.3 billion

users, dominates the social media landscape in developing countries• As the most widely used messaging app in the world, the potential for

using WhatsApp as a tool for public diplomacy is significant• But how do we do it? • The labor-intensive use of WhatsApp requires users to have a high-level of

digital literacy; moreover, the opt-in, non-broadcast nature of WhatsApp presents challenges to using WhatsApp

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KEY QUESTIONS• What is the future for this app?

• How can WhatsApp be used to inform and influence our audiences, especially youth?

• Can it be used as a tool for collaboration? For message dissemination?

• What are the easiest ways to integrate WhatsApp into our existing social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter?

• Are other organizations, companies, or groups using WhatsApp successfully, and if so what methods can Public Diplomacy sections steal?

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3. OUR APPROACH

• Poster presented at the 2017 US Diplomacy Lab Fair, Washington D.C.

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FOCUS ON STUDENTS

• This report presents preliminary results from our study with students in Ethiopia

OUR PARTNERSHIP FOR PROJECT 84• US Department of State • Kanishka Gangopadhyay (Cotonou, Benin)• Christopher Schirm (Cotonou, Benin) • Bryan Gerhart (Diplomacy Lab) • Lasupo Isaac Arnaud Karl Job

• Diplomacy lab students• Jeni Trimmer and Jaime Cleek, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

• Researchers in the US• Dawit Demissie, The Sage Colleges, New York • Mukesh Srivastava and Kanchan Deosthali, University of Mary Washington, Virginia • Devendra Potnis, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Tennessee

• Students and researchers abroad • Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University and Wollega University• India: Central University of Gujarat • Tunisia: University of Tunis • Vietnam: FPT University

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RELATED LITERATURE(I)• Timely sharing of information among various social networks is

critical for building, growing, and sustaining any social movement (Jenkins, 2016)

• Social media serves as one of the most efficient and effective modes of communication for social activism in developing countries (Lim, 2012)

• Youth increasingly rely on mobile phones for accessing, searching, and sharing messages over social media (Gerbaudo, 2018)

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RELATED LITERATURE (II)• Factors influencing electronic word-of-mouth among Indian youth:

Implications for mobile governance (Potnis and Gala, 2017)1. Type of online communication channel (e.g., Facebook, email, etc.)2. Message characteristics

a. Language of the message b. Content of the message (e.g., humorous, emergency information, philosophical)

3. Emotional engagement with the message (e.g., Likeability of the message)4. Priority of the activity users are engaged in over the received message5. Technology (e.g., network connectivity, data plan, discharged mobile

device, Internet jamming, etc.)6. Source of the message 7. Time of the day message is received

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OUR PROPOSITION• Building on the task-technology fit (TTF) framework (Goodhue

and Thompson, 1995), we focus on the effect of the following factors on respondents’ willingness to forward any message of the US embassy to their social network over WhatsApp:1. Degree of sociopolitical activism of respondents, which includes but is

not limited to protests, emergency, and crisis2. Access to and use of technology like smartphones and network

infrastructure3. Message content and message characteristics4. Emotional engagement with the message5. Fit of WhatsApp for spreading messages6. Political viewpoint of respondents7. Socioeconomic status of respondents

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PROPOSED THEORETICAL MODEL

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Tasks Technology Platform

Message Content

Emotional Engagement with Message

Content

Task Technology Fit

PoliticalSocial EconomicDigital activism

Intention of Students to

Forward Messages Using WhatsApp

ONLINE SURVEY USING QUALTRICS(AFTER IRB APPROVAL)

• Key features• Mobile interface and QR code for accessing the survey • Progress bar

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4. FINDINGS(BASED ON RESPONSES FROM STUDENTS IN ETHIOPIA)

• Sample size: 89 (as of Nov. 2017)

• Age: Over 50% of them in the age range of 21 to 30 years

• Gender: Male (80%) and Female (20%)

• Education: Bachelor’s (51%), Master’s (25%), and Doctoral (4%)

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SMARTPHONES• Usage: Around 40% and 25% of respondents had used their

smartphones for more than 6 months but less than 3, and more than 3 years but less than 5 years, respectively

• Cost: An average cost of accessing mobile data is 20 cents for an MB or 20 cents per minute in Ethiopia

• Over 90% of respondents complained about the speed of their data plan since it is as slow or at about 128 bits per second

• The size of their data plan range from 25MB to 32GB with a majority of respondents subscribing to data plans of 8GB or above

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WHATSAPP• Almost all respondents were introduced to WhatsApp by their

friends or family members

• All of them had used WhatsApp for at least six months

• Social networking is the most frequently reported reason for using WhatsApp by respondents

• Two thirds of respondents use WhatsApp for virtual volunteering, the core requirement for any sociopolitical activism• In particular, they find it useful for seeking and sharing sensitive

information in a timely manner• WhatsApp enables respondents for communicating different types of

information in a variety of modes like photos, videos, and text instantly

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WHATSAPP FOR DIGITAL ACTIVISM• Respondents credited the following characteristic features of

WhatsApp for using this social media mobile app for digital activism• Easy to use, fastest, free high-quality phone call, reliability, the ability to

reach out to many people at once, and accuracy• Cost and speed were the primary factors motivating respondents to rely

on WhatsApp for volunteering

• One third of respondents use WhatsApp for spreading their government’s agenda to social networks

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WHATSAPP FOR FORWARDING MESSAGES• Two thirds of respondents are willing to forward any messages

of the US embassy to their social networks over mobile phones

• Reasons for forwarding US diplomacy messages are related to:• The strategic importance of the United States for the world safety• The idea of supporting the free flow of information• Perceived value of messages• Belief in globalization• Prior experience working with American agencies in Ethiopia• Trust in American democracy• The betterment of the society

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IMPRESSION OF THE UNITED STATES• When asked about their impression of the US, the following themes

emerged: • It is a “great country”• It’s advanced economy• A democratic country• It is a superpower that keeps the interest of its citizens first• The beginning of a racially-divided country after the 2016 Presidential

election• It is a free state• The most influential country• The country’s care for world safety• Respondents hate the country and that it is a land of opportunities

• News media, entertainment industry, social media, and friends and families were the key factors shaping respondents’ impression of the US

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MISSION STATEMENT OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

• We sought respondents’ thoughts on the mission statement of the US Department of State. Some of the key themes were: • Unrealistic• Convincing• Mission for all• Right vision• Good for all

• Some respondents were not willing to share their real thoughts

• Several respondents were suspicious if the US Department of State actually follows their publicly advertised mission

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OUR INFERENCE (IT IS A RESEARCH IN PROGRESS)

• Based on the data collected so far, we infer that the following factors would discourage them from forwarding US messages over WhatsApp: • the high cost of accessing the Internet• slow speed of mobile Internet data plan• reluctance of students to forward government messages• negative image of students about the United States

• The longer students use WhatsApp, the more likely they are going to use it for spreading the US message

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IMPLICATIONS• Practical: Study findings will help inform US embassies in

developing countries on crafting strategies to engage with local youth for virally reaching out to masses in case of any regional-level or national-level emergency over social media-based mobile apps like WhatsApp

• Theoretical: Rarely any study has applied TTF framework for assessing the utility and relevance of social media like WhatsApp for social activism, which is the unique theoretical contribution of this study

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5. FUTURE RESEARCH• Our target is to collect 300 student responses

• We plan to employ structural equation modeling for testing our proposed model on the effect of the seven factors on the intention of students to use WhatsApp for spreading the US message in developing countries

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6. REFERENCES• Gerbaudo, P. (2018). Tweets and streets: Social media and

contemporary activism, Pluto Press, London: UK. • Goodhue, D. and Thompson, R. (1995). Task-technology fit and

individual performance, MIS Quarterly, 19(2), 213-236.• Jenkins, H. (2016). By any media necessary: The new youth activism,

NYU Press, NY: New York. • Lim, M. (2012), Clicks, Cabs, and Coffee Houses: Social Media and

Oppositional Movements in Egypt, 2004–2011. Journal of Communication, 62, 231-248. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01628.x

• Potnis, D. & Gala, B. (2017, March 7-9). Factors Influencing Electronic Word-of-Mouth Among Indian Youth: Implications for Mobile Governance, Special Issue on Electronic Governance in India, 10th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, New Delhi, India, 107-114.

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THANKS!• Questions?

• Comments?

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