Beyond #FeesMustFall: Understanding the inclusion role of social media during students’ protests in South Africa

Abstract

Studies have shown how social media, including Facebook and Twitter, are reshaping communication, news, and information. It is therefore important to explore the role social media plays in student protests and campaigns in order to determine to what extent social media allows participation and audience inclusion during #FeesMustFall and other contemporary discussions among students. This study also looks at how audience inclusion in Facebook and Twitter is increasingly shaping the “News” habits of young South African students. The study used a qualitative, exploratory, and interpretive approach. Thirteen students were interviewed (audio-recorded) one-on-one using a semi-structured interview guide. The findings indicate that students find recourse in social media as an avenue for inclusion and participation on social issues surrounding the youths during and beyond the #FeesMustFall campaign.

Keywords:

• Audience inclusion
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Social media
• University students
• #FeesMustFall

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

This article explores audience participation in Facebook and Twitter among young university students. It uses the nationwide #FeesMustFall campaign in South Africa as a case in an attempt to probe the uses, impact and overall dynamics and discourses of digital protests. The article found out that university students have become more engaged with social media because of its ease of access and sense of connectedness. Therefore, since university students are moving towards the inclusion of social media platforms as a means of communication, it becomes necessary for university management to explore ways to adopt these communication tools as an engagement tool and a feedback mechanism among all university stakeholders, students inclusive most especially in Africa. In doing so, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Africa will be able to situate the role of emerging social media platforms in dissemination of information among students in the twenty-first century.

1. Introduction

The #FeesMustFall students’ protest began in Higher Institutions of learning in South Africa and rapidly spread to other countries abroad. The intensity and efficacy in which this protest gained popularity has been alluded to as social media engagement (Bosch & Mutsvairo 2017; Bosch, 2017; Luescher et al., 2017). Approximately 63% of the world’s population are using the internet (Internet World Statistics, 2020). Most importantly is the contribution of the different social media sites to this statistic. A report by the Pew Research Centre indicates that South Africa has at least half of its population online and 32% of its population using social media platforms. Facebook and Twitter are also listed among the top 10 websites with the greatest traffic in South Africa (Poushter et al., 2018). The revolutionary cry among young students for an end to corporate education was spiraled by the use of hashtags from the #RhodesMustFall campaign which began at the University of Cape Town and gradually shifted to the #FeesMustFall campaign experienced across South Africa. Almost all South African universities began to look for what must fall in their respective institutions with the creation of several sub-hashtags peculiar to each institution under the #FeesMustFall umbrella (Bosch, 2017; Luescher et al., 2017). Many agreed that social media created the avenue for the #FeesMustFall campaign to move from just a local university protest to national and then global, thereby generating political debate even outside South Africa. Several studies have identified the potentials of Facebook and Twitter as a communication tool in debates and campaigns, especially among youths (Bosch, 2017; Castells, 2015; Ghosh et al., 2012; Kelling et al., 2013).

With the prominence of Twitter and Facebook in South Africa during this campaign, there is a need to understand the inclusion role of social media during protests and explore the role social media plays in the life of students as an engagement tool in the twenty-first century. Therefore, this article aims to address two (2) critical questions which are: (1) How does Facebook and Twitter contribute to the way #FeesMustFall was reported? (2) What are the students’ inclusion expectations and motivations for participating in news sharing on Facebook and Twitter during protests? Firstly, this article will introduce the concept of the inclusion role of social media. It will link this to the theoretical framework for this study. The methods and findings of this study will be discussed. Drawing on the findings generated from students, this article will conclude and draw on the importance of strategic engagement of university authorities and stakeholders with students on social media.

2. Conceptual framework

The inclusion theory is derived from the systemic theory of Niklas Luhmann. This theory advocates that for a modern society to succeed, there is a need for delegation of some function (in a systematic way) in order for the society not to suffer anarchy (Nassehi, 2005; Schirmer & Michailakis, 2015). Inclusion theory therefore, is informed by the “systemic theory” where social structures are put in place to build a strong society. Loosen and Schmidt (2012) advanced this theory by implying that such social structure (inclusion) can take the form of communication channels between the audience and the media, where the media serves as information channel to the audience, and the audience in this context is the receiver of such information. A system is established if the audience in turn accepts information provided by the media (Loosen & Schmidt, 2012).

The audience inclusion theory defined the “new” relationship between the media and its audiences due to emerging social network sites (Loosen & Schmidt, 2012). Audience, “within the theory of Inclusion is used whenever a person benefits or make uses of a social system” (for example, Twitter, Facebook) and thereby “becomes a part of that system’s relevant environment” (Loosen & Schmidt, 2012, p. 873). However, the audience may choose to interact with journalists on these social media platforms provided by media institutions or rather discuss outside these institutional platforms thereby creating a different sphere than that which the media institution provides. Examples are manifested in the creation of hashtags such as #blackTwitter, #occupy movement, #RhodesMustFall, #BringBackOurGirls and in the case of this study #FeesMustFall, thereby drawing the public into discussion and into the audience sphere. This conversation can take place within the audience sphere, e.g Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites (Loosen & Schmidt, 2012; Schmidt et al., 2013). This is also described by some other authors as “the networked audience” (see, Castells & Kumar, 2014; A. M. Lee et al., 2014; Loosen & Schmidt, 2012) and “active audience” (see, Bolin, 2012; Hermida et al., 2012). This article explores the audience inclusion role of social media in the aftermaths of the 2015 #FeesMustFall protest with focus on the experience of the “audience” itself, which are in this case university students.

3. Context of the study

While the #FeesMustFall movement was a national-wide campaign across higher institutions of learning in South Africa, the study focused on a particular higher institution as a case study for the audience inclusion role of Facebook and Twitter among students during the #FeesMustFall campaign. The aftermaths of the #FeesMustFall campaign and the follow-up of events made each university within the country to demand for what must fall in their various institutions. What makes this particular higher institution significant is the killing of a student inside the university campus during one of such protests.

4. Methods and designs

The approach used for this study was a qualitative exploratory study within the interpretivist approach. This approach is significant to this study as it explored the in-depth meanings and views of students who were at the center of the #FeesMustFall. By conducting interviews, it gave room for the primary participants of the #FeesMustFall protest to reflect on their responses and their uses of these social media tools during protests. Thirteen students all from a university of technology in South Africa were interviewed one-on-one and audio-recorded using a semi-structured interview guide. These students were selected through purposive sampling. The design for this study was approved by the Institutional Research Ethics Committee of the University of Technology in question, and gatekeeper permission was also obtained to interview students from this Institution.

Participants/Students were solicited from the department of Journalism within the University of Technology with the criteria being interest in news. The researcher approached one of the subject lecturers for the students asking for permission to speak with the students during one of her classes with them. A date in the timetable was reached and the researcher was present at the beginning of the class on the agreed date and was introduced to the students by the Lecturer. The researcher discussed in detail the purpose of the study with the students. Afterward, the researcher asked if there are any further clarifications from the class regarding the interview process. After attending to the questions and comments from the students regarding the interview process, the researcher indicated that a list will be passed around for students who are interested to put down their names and phone contacts and they will be contacted. Eighteen students indicated interest and wrote out their names and contact details. They were contacted via WhatsApp messages, SMS, and phone calls for interviews until the required number of participants was completed. The study initially targeted 15 participants due to the chances of saturation of data occurring after the first 12 interviews (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2018; Guest et al., 2006). The study reached saturation at the 12th interview; however, one more interview was conducted to ascertain this claim. Therefore, the total number of interviews was 13. All the participants were undergraduate students in their final year and have at least one or both of the social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). This is because Journalism students based on their career trajectory are expected to actively read, listen, and view news reports in any kind of media (Qayyum et al., 2010, p. 182). Another reason for opting for Journalism students is because of their media knowledge. Although protests have continued under the banner of #FeesMustFall in various ways, the peak of the movement itself was from the year 2015–2017. The study also opted for the final year students because they were the last set of current students to experience #FeesMustFall campaign at its peak. These set of students have also experienced other protests in the university. The study did not include students from other departments which may be seen as a limitation in the study. However, the focus of this study is on students with active interest for news. Therefore, journalism students studying towards a degree in the art of dissemination of news and information fit the criteria. Purposive sampling study a targeted population in order to allow for in-depth and clarity on their lived experiences (Marvasti, 2004; Yin, 2011). It is in the nature of qualitative research not to depend upon random sampling; instead purposive sampling was used to determine the selection of respondents to be interviewed, which means selecting those that “obtain the broadest range of information and perspectives on the subject of study” (Kuzel, 1992, p. 37). This article delved into the meaning of how students (who had lived or are living the experience of various protests on campus) explore Facebook and Twitter in communication. Therefore, this set of students are suitable for the study. It is noteworthy that the declaration for free education by the then President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma was in December 2017 (effective January 2018) to all students with the combined annual household income of R350,000.00 or less.

The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim by the researcher. An interpretative approach was used to interpret the data and NVivo software tool was used for the coding. NVivo is a Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis System (CAQDAS). CAQDAS are tools to support the process of a qualitative data analysis; they do not analyze data itself (Harding, 2019; Nowell et al., 2017; Uwe, 2014). This tool was employed in this research process primarily because of its flexibility in the organization of data. NVivo helps to visualize large data at once. Data obtained were analysed following the “six phases” thematic analysis process of Braun and Clarke (2006).

The demographic data of participants collected includes types of social media use¹ alongside an Informed and Consent form. Out of the 13 participants, three (3) were former executives of the Students’ Representatives Council (SRC), while two (2) had worked with the online radio of the institution called “Radio DUT”. This study did not intend to include SRC students to avoid any political ideology; however, some of the volunteered participants (Journalism students) were coincidentally members of the SRC. They brought a new perspective and experience of students’ protest that is quite different from the regular students.

5. Findings

The main objectives of this article are to understand how Facebook and Twitter contribute to the way #FeesMustFall was reported and to also explore students’ inclusion expectations and motivations for participating in news sharing on Facebook and Twitter during protests. Findings from the data are grouped under three broad categories. This first category discusses the interrelationship between online and physical engagement especially during the #FeesMustFall and answers the first question of this study. The second category explores the usefulness of such online engagement with university authorities and further sheds light on the first question. The last category highlights the motivation for inclusion on social media during students’ protests and addresses the second question posed in this article.

6. Interrelationship between online and physical students’ engagement

This category explains the relationship between social media and student protests. Participants in this study believed that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter aided the popularity of students’ protests. These platforms enabled students to converge in a “public space” and tell their stories themselves. The participants mentioned that the social media platforms provided a space to first converge and discuss the issues of fees before protesting. A student indicated that she participated in the #FeesMustFall on Twitter and then later joined the movement physically. She said:

Yes, I did campaign because I honestly felt that why should one not go to school because they cannot afford, so I actually went to Twitter and put in my campaign … there was one instance I went to UKZN to march … I actually joined the march so that our voices can be heard.

This indicates that there is a relationship between the online and physical representation of protests. In the case of the #RhodesMustFall of 2015 which started in one of the universities in South Africa, Bosch (2017) discovered that Twitter created an avenue for the campaign to go from a local university campaign to national and then global, thereby generating political debate even outside South Africa. The same was also recorded in the case of #FeesMustFall: one of the participants believed that the social media created that avenue for the movement to become popular. The student said:

I think we definitely live in the age where protesting is changing … it is not just going to the streets and just dancing and chanting, so it’s social media … a new way of bringing attention and so because it is easy as well, it is easy to go to social media and round people up and say we are doing this, it has more outreach, a lot of people can get in touch with a lot of people in a short space of time and you can get your ideas across more quickly.

The two students above indicated that the use of social media platforms changed the dynamics of the #FeesMustFall campaign. This was possible through the ease such platforms provides to garner support for the campaign. A lot of what happens during physical protest translates to what is streamed online. This is also manifested in other Twitter-based protests such as “Bring Back Our Girls Campaign” (Maxfield, 2016) in Western Africa, and the Arab Spring that took place in Northern Africa between 2011–2012 (see, Zhuo et al., 2012) where proceeds of meetings, rallies, and gatherings were tweeted.

While many of the participants agreed that Facebook and Twitter created an avenue for the #FeesMustFall to be popular, a participant who also belonged to the student leadership, however, mentioned that these social media tools could be abused and it sometimes created an armchair participation because the number of views, likes, retweets, and comments on these platforms do not necessarily represent the number of students that are physically available during protests. This student narrated that:

Student’s leader will pick an initiative to actually say let us go voice our opinion to management, lets us invite everyone to meet wherever, through social media and people will not come but when we look at Facebook and the page everyone is making a noise, everyone is saying we are hungry, but they were not there … People are not found there, but they are found on social media saying “#FeesMustFall, we do not have enough money to pay for our fee”, but when it comes to protesting for #FeesMustFall, they are not there … So there is a bit of lack in hard work that social media creates.

Gladwell (2010) and Morozov (2017) also agree about the “slackitivism” (a term used for people who only participate online) of online protest participation. However, Shirky (2011) insisted that this does not mean successes are not recorded with the use of these social media platforms. The role of social media in protest is not only to mobilize physical support; social media is important even during protest as it captures events and stories as it is happening. Another participant further pointed out that social media enables students to capture all aspects of the FeesMustFall movement by saying:

With FeesMustFall the video of students beating by police wouldn’t have made it to normal mainstream media but with social media, people could see those videos.

This students’ experience of the #FeesMustFall is the live tweet and coverage the campaign gained. Since there is no time lag on social media, it is therefore possible for events happening physically to be covered live. Shirky (2011) mentioned that one of the advantages of social media in protest is “the ability to coordinate in real time and broadcast documentation of an event”. A student mentioned that:

It’s the social media obviously, because if we didn’t use it as a tool, it won’t be so popular. People wouldn’t have known about it, they will only think that it was like any other protest.

While physical protest was also relevant to the “success” of the movement, the statement by the student above suggested that social media paved the way for students to deliberate and participate in discussion regarding the protest thereby creating a kind of citizen reporting. Another interesting angle to this is that while institutions can sanction protest among students, they cannot on the other hand control statements or participation on social media. A student who also works with the online radio of the institution shared her experience in this manner:

I remembered there was one time where we want to cover a Res, we are shooting for 11am and the institution will not allow us to go in there, but because of social media, students were actually able to record certain videos and post certain images on their own social media page without fear of being expelled or fear of being told to take those down.

Therefore, social media provided a platform for students to mobilize and participate in live coverage events during the #FeesMustFall campaign. Although there have been attempts to shut down social media platforms or control the flow of information on these platforms by various governments across the globe in the past, this effort has proven abortive as these measures and approaches are not permanent but rather open up further debate regarding the country or government concerned.

Also, the new media and different social media sites have empowered the audience to create a “network sphere”. Audiences do not need to rely on public communication provided by authorities in order to share their opinion. The participants in this study believed that the #FeesMustFall campaign created a network convergence for students to have a conversation and inclusion on the debate around the campaign. One student mentioned that:

Students came together, we united, we use platform like social media, so we can get backup and then do our campaign.

The above participant shared her experience of the #FeesMustFall which fits the social media inclusion theory as explained by Loosen and Schmidt (2012). The social network sites provided a united network audience for students to harmonize their demands for free education. Another student shared her experience by saying:

The #FeesMustFall, the experience of it all for me it’s just like the evidence of democracy. I felt like as a young person, I finally have a democracy which I can relate to … it is finally knowing how to take part in democracy, because big people think young people cannot relate to political parties, we do not relate to voting … but with social media we understand each other better, and the #FeesMustFall actually shows that we all had a common problem which was our fees, it was high and we wanted to study.

Habermas (2006) described the public sphere as a “space” where the audience can easily discuss public issues without any fear or coercion. The student above shared her experience that the social media empowered students by giving a sense of free participation seen in a democratic sphere as argued by Habermas. Many of the participants mentioned the freedom social media gave them in expressing their views and opinions. One of the reasons Facebook and Twitter served as a convergence for students during the high points of the campaign was because students and most especially youth are mostly active on these platforms. The #FeesMustFall was mostly a student campaign and these platforms provided the inclusion university students needed to air their views regarding fees in the university. Therefore, Facebook and Twitter are becoming the sphere for youth convergence to discuss pertinent issues in the society. Although Gladwell (2010) argued that social media cannot be referred to as a “sphere”, however evidence from the experiences of participants indicates that young people see it as a community where they can air their views and concerns. A student expressed her feeling by saying:

I just feel more comfortable posting on social media, it is like a community.

Participants agreed that the #FeesMustFall movement was the result of a unified student movement to achieve the fall of fees in South African higher institutions. It is interesting to note that songs shared on social media were also instrumental in the popularity of the campaign; one of the participants mentioned that songs united students of different political affiliations and institutions. This particular song referenced by our participants has over a million views on a YouTube channel.² The student said

Oh and there was also this video of a guy at WITS you know the song ‘Nobody wanna see us together’ song on #FeesMustFall, it was from that guy from WITS and he was the one that composed the song … but the song became so famous that it united all students from all different organizations.

7. Universities and engagement with students

Studies have established Facebook and Twitter as a critical engagement tool among students during campaigns (Chen et al., 2016; F. L. Lee et al., 2017). Likewise, during the recent #FeesMustFall campaign of 2019³ at the university in study, participants elaborated on the need for university authorities to engage with students on social media.

I think another thing as well with our institution is engagement as well, because with the university, they wait until something become public and the social media is drawn in and it becomes a circus kind of, but if they are attacking early, students have complaints, they should rather attack those complaints early while they still can handle it. So, they wait until the situation is escalated and it becomes a problem.

The student above referred to the 2019 students’ protest at the institution indicating for the need for a participatory culture among student and university authorities, particularly on social media. While university authorities may want to distance themselves from communication on social media, it is pertinent to take into consideration that Facebook and Twitter are often the means of expressing dissatisfaction among young students. Chen et al. (2016) and F. L. Lee et al. (2017) in the study of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement of 2014 found out that young people, especially university students, find recourse in the use of Facebook as an engaging and inclusive means for communicating their complaints to authorities. Data in this study shows that students want to engage directly with the university even on these social network sites.

In the excerpt below, a student narrated her experience of the shooting of another fellow student during a protest in early 2019.⁴

I am going to talk about the campus shooting. The campus shooting was one of the most controversial issues and I was one of the people who was not saying anything on social media but very annoyed with everyone who was saying everything and yet they were not even in our university, they were in Jo’burg. On the day it happened, SASCO released a statement on social media talking about it that this person died from fighting for free education which is not the truth and everybody kept writing statement because they were just following what SASCO and everyone else was saying on social media … they didn’t know what actually happened. Because we had videos and some people were there and they saw it, I don’t want to say that was an illegal strike, but a strike or protest that has to do with anything related to the institution often involve students in the institution … but that’s not what happened.

Perhaps the events leading to the shooting of this student just outside the university gate created the controversy around the genuineness of the protest. There was a lot of discussion and engagement among students and the public on Facebook and Twitter regarding this particular shooting on the said date. However, the university only released a statement about the incident the following day. Students seek immediate engagement with university authorities regarding issues like these, and most of the participants of this study attest to lack of engagement by university authorities, especially on Facebook and Twitter during protests. Lack of prompt engagement by the university made students and the public to form an opinion based on the immediate response and statement released by the student organization of the institution on different social media platforms.

8. Motivation for inclusion on social media during students protest

One of our participants in particular mentioned that during the #FeesMustFall campaign, Twitter made her feel connected to other fellow students because most of the comments she followed were from other students on Twitter since the university was not participating in the discussion on Twitter. She said:

Mostly students, the university tried by all means to distance themselves from commenting because they know that there are going to be some comments and they are not going to be good. So mostly it is the student saying we experiencing one, two three, four, where can I get help? No, you should go to this faculty, you should get this help and stuff like that. So most of the people that were commenting on Twitter were students.

The reason why Institutions may not have a full presence on social media during students’ protests may be that they have a dedicated traditional platform such as email notifications and university websites where they post updates for both students and staff. Bosch (2017) found out that during the #RhodesMustFall campaign at UCT in 2015, students were the ones tweeting mostly about the hashtag and not the university authorities. Institutions may not see social media as an official tool of communication. Another reason may be due to the bureaucracy in many organizations, where every communication has to be approved by the head. The time-lag on social media does not allow for such bureaucracy. Though the institution in this study has an official Facebook and Twitter handle, most of our participants attest to the fact that it is usually not engaging, especially during protests and campaigns. One of the participants who also works with the university online radio attests to this. She said:

Another thing as well with the university is engagement, because … they wait until something becomes public and the media is drawn into it and it becomes a circus kind of, but if they are attacking early, students have complaints, they should rather attack those complaints early using different social media platforms while they still can handle it. So they wait until the situation is escalated and it becomes a problem.

Facebook works in a way that enables the audience to share information among their network audience at a single click. The multiplier effect this has is that many people are able to view the post compared to that of the traditional means of sharing information. Also, the tendency of physical protest to get violent makes some students prefer online protests. One student mentioned that:

I feel more comfortable on social media because as much as there can be some sort of argument and so, but the argument are not directly violent, they are not directed to me as a person, that is why I am able to voice out my opinion much better … the physical protest kind of create a protection barrier for you unlike if you are online, you sort of feel protected.

There is subtle reliance on social media platforms that one’s views and opinions will not be subdued. Students feel safe to participate on these platforms because it protects their identity. The above experiences show that students demand an engaging discussion with universities authorities even on social media. Students have come to accept these platforms as a means of communication and seek engagement via it from relevant authorities. Again, it is imperative to note that Facebook and Twitter created a sense of inclusion and a sphere for young people to drive discourse.

9. Discussions

Lack of engagement and non-inclusion by the university’s authority made students to find recourse in social media as an avenue for participation and discussion. Ma, Sian Lee and Hoe-Lian Goh (2014) in their study suggested that university students consist of the largest online community who engage in discussion on social media. While “online” participation does not necessarily equate physical representation (see, Gladwell, 2010), the #FeesMustFall was able to create a social media storm based on the experience of the participants during the campaign.

Although participants mentioned some vices that are related to audience inclusion on social media and most importantly the credibility of such posts, the researcher observed that students have come to accept social media especially Facebook as a medium which gives them a global view into the world through discussions, interactions, and participation.

Habermas’s (2006) description of a public sphere is a public place where members of the public are free to air their views and opinions without fear of manipulation or coercion. The researcher observed that participants agreed that the #FeesMustFall movement was essentially the combination of a unified student movement to achieve a free education in higher institutions in South Africa. The participants believed that the social media created a “network sphere” for student to come together with a unified voice. The concept of the empowered network as seen in the work of Castells (2015) is evident during the #FeesMustFall protest.

In a report by the Pew Research Centre in 2018, Facebook and Twitter were listed as country-specific examples of social media sites in South Africa (Poushter et al., 2018). This study discovered Twitter created an avenue for synchronized discussion during the #FeesMustFall, Facebook, however, is a relevant social media site for audience inclusion as students make use of this platform for detailed information during the #FeesMustFall. The audience, which in this case are students benefit in the inclusion role Facebook and Twitter provide for reporting during the #FeesMustFall and wanted university authorities to co-participate in these audience inclusion avenues.

The findings revealed that students were motivated to participate in protests as social media platforms provide audience inclusion in students engagement. There was also ease of access to information during the #FeesMustFall movement; and it enriches the knowledge base of students. Another motivation was the sense of connectedness that Facebook brought among students during protests.

Citizens in the form of university students have become more engaged with social media because of its ease of access and sense of connectedness. This sense of connectedness has resulted in social media movements where students document their own journeys as an inclusive form of communication. This kind of citizen reporting fosters a network audience-community among university students and can also be described as cyber activism.

10. Conclusion

The design of this study employs a purposive sampling of a specific group of students based on their experiences of #FeesMustFall and other protests on campus. It speaks to the illuminative nature of a qualitative study and transcends beyond representation of samples. The value of these students’ lived experiences brings to light the understanding of the media and students activism in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The findings in this study show that university students experienced Facebook and Twitter as an audience inclusion channel during the #FeesMustFall campaign and other students’ protests. University students want the participation and engagement of university authorities in discussions pertaining to the institution on social media.

Similarly, the potentials of this study open up conversations around HEIs in response to social media and students’ activism. The aftermaths of the #FeesMustFall is reflected in other similar students’ protests. The debate on whether the #FeesMustFall movement was a success is still ongoing as there has been evidence of strikes and disruptions of academic programmes even after the government’s intervention of free fees for students from low-income households. The agitations have shifted from free fees to management and allocation of funds for students by each university, housing, and accommodation, historical debts incurred by students, staffing, and security issues within campuses. To channel these agitations, various social media platforms, especially Facebook and Twitter have become a self-publishing “space” for the audience, in this case the students. This is mentioned in Loosen and Schmidt’s theory of inclusion as a method in which the audience makes use of technology to participate in news sharing. Therefore, Facebook and Twitter provided the audience inclusion students needed to air their views and share information during protests.

11. Recommendation

The first question of this study was how does Facebook and Twitter contribute to the way #FeesMustFall was reported? This study discovered the interrelationship between physical and online protests as students engaged in both methods interchangeably during protests. The second question highlight students’ inclusion expectations and motivations for participating in news sharing on Facebook and Twitter during these protests. Such expectations and motivations take the form of a “student network” were students see these social media platforms as a “space” which enhances connectedness. Since students find audience inclusion on Facebook and Twitter, universities are expected to utilize social media platforms, especially Facebook and Twitter to engage in official communication with students. The affordance of these communication technologies (social media) makes it possible for students to engage and interact with one another. Students seek information on Facebook and Twitter during any campaign or protest. Therefore, South African universities should have a social media management crises team that engages with students to stem violent protests and give right information. Facebook and Twitter provide inclusion for students to share their views and voice their concerns, and university authorities can make use of these social media platforms to engage and interact often with students. To curb misinformation, universities can have verified social media accounts and make them functional so students can visit for updates and information.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation [MND190619448968, UID118686, UID120999].

Notes on contributors

Anu Olagunju

Anu is a certified Communication specialist and an experienced Journalist with (seven) 7 years’ experience reporting for print and online editions of both local and international magazines. She also has classroom experience with students in tertiary institutions. Her background knowledge is in Media and communication. Anu’s area of research interest is primarily in the New Media. She is also interested in researching, writing, and editing on related media and communication subjects.

Notes

1. Some participants listed WhatsApp as a type of social media platform they use. While WhatsApp is a messenger app, it is reported to be gaining momentum as the preferred channel for news distribution and sharing in countries like Malaysia, Brazil, Spain, and Turkey Poushter et. al 2018). Participants in this study also made mention of the use of this app during the #FeesMustFall.

2. The song “Nobody wanna see us together” has several renditions on YouTube, and one of the renditions has a million views.

3. There are still spill overs of the #FeesMustFall Campaign in Higher Education Institutions in South Africa as every other students’ protest finds its rooting in the campaign.

4. Data was collected immediately after the 2019 protest/strike, therefore, most of the participants shared their experience of the protest during the interview.