The Sunday Mail
Yesterday was Independence Day, where Zimbabweans celebrated the country’s independence from colonial rule. And something that added colour to the festivities, which had been absent in the previous 34 editions, was #1980SoFarSoGood T-shirts and banners.
Abel Dzobo – Correspondent
The Twitter platform #1980SoFarSoGood has taken the country by storm and all of a sudden Twitter is abuzz and there has been an outburst of nationalism as Zimbabweans around the world come to assemble around their banner and carry the torch of Independence.
Prof Jonathan Moyo, who is the Media, Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, underscored the gargantuan role that social media has come to play in Zimbabwe when he said not embracing it was akin to aborting relevance.
“The bottom line that you can ignore to your peril is that social media have become so ubiquitous and so pervasive that it is no longer possible to be relevant in any human endeavour without using them.”
“Those who don’t use social media in one way or another and those who want to ban their use are doomed.”
“Like everyone else, I think social media are really cool a digital platforms and I acknowledge their amazing power in facilitating interactive communication beyond the boundaries of space and time and in ways that can improve lives and livelihoods.”
And Zimbabweans world over were interacting online about independence, sharing their thoughts about the Uhuru celebrations.
Midlands State University lecturer, Prof Nhamo Mhiripiri, hailed the impact of #1980SoFarSoGood as it opened up dialogue in proportions that have not been witnessed before on online platforms.
“#1980SoFarSoGood garnered diverse reactions from people with the patriotic being very optimistic about our prospects as a nation, while some are cynical while there are also the outright pessimists,” Prof Mhiripiri said.
Increased use of WhatsApp and Facebook have also led to the illumination of the xenophobic violence in South Africa, where comments by Zulu King Godwill Zwelithini likening fellow Africans from neighbouring countries to mice and lice have taken stick for the attacks.
This could only point to a growth in social media use in Zimbabwe, but now the question is, could this signal the supremacy of social media over traditional mainstream media such as the newspaper?
TellZim.com, a citizen journalism website in Masvingo, has been at the forefront of highlighting issues critical to the survival of citizens.
TellZimbabwe Trust director Golden Maunganidze, who is a journalist-cum-media lecturer, said: “Our aim is to see a corrupt-free society which values human rights and we are using citizen journalism to achieve our goal.”
The Great Zimbabwe University lecturer said that Tell Zimbabwe, which runs a website, Facebook page and a newsletter, counts its major success as the giving of agency to the population of Masvingo province.
“Tell Zimbabwe trained citizen journalists in Gutu, Masvingo and Chiredzi, and these assisted ordinary villagers to write newsworthy stories about issues affecting them and their aspirations and then publish them for wider audiences,” he said.
One of the website’s major successes was their breaking and consistent coverage of the trail of destruction left by crocodiles in the Mazare communal area, whereby the giant reptiles killed 16-year-old Shingirai Mangwengwe and many cattle in the area.
Zanu-PF Politburo member and Masvingo Urban Member of Parliament, Cde Daniel Shumba, said the citizen journalists were at the forefront of exposing corruption and other ills, in the process leading to improved service delivery.
“Through this citizen journalism initiative, Tell Zimbabwe is responding to today’s needs with integrity,” Shumba said.
However, Maunganidze is of the view that social media on its own is not effective, and advocated that to have an informed society, there is need for a model that combines online (Twitter, Facebook) and offline media (print newspaper and bulk SMS) to cater for those who have no internet connectivity.
“Besides publishing on the website, newsletters which we distributed remained critical in improving access to information levels in Masvingo province. Ordinary villagers who do not have money to buy newspapers said through the newsletters they were able to hear what is happening in their area as well as being heard,” Maunganidze said.
Prof Mhiripiri concurs, noting that Zimbabwe has not yet achieved universal access to social media.
“Social media use in Zimbabwe is growing, but you have to take it with a pinch of salt. Not all people have been able to access social media. Connectivity is limited, fewer people can afford the internet.
“Actually, phone connectivity is high and there is more potential with bulk SMS than with the internet. So radio is still the medium with the most coverage,” Prof Mhiripiri said.
Despite 2014 statistics of an impressive mobile penetration rate of 106 percent, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe estimates that only 60 percent of Zimbabweans actually own a mobile phone or have multiple-active mobile SIM cards, translating to 8,4 million people.
Potraz also adds that according to 2014 statistics, Zimbabwe’s total broadband subscriptions hover around 50 percent, with mobile networks being the major providers of internet as fixed internet provision is still very low.
But after all is said and done, #1980SoFarSoGood has exhibited the joys of social media connectivity.
