FEMALE DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN NIGERIA AS SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM

10.31857/S032150750010455-2

   The article is based on digital sources and deals with the phenomenon of female digital storytelling in Nigeria. The author analyzes the correlation between female storytelling and Nigerian traditions of narration and its actualization in postmodern conditions. Nigeria has been successfully integrated into the global network, and its Internet audience is constantly growing. Communication through social media, and through social networking services like Facebook and Twitter in particular, has become the basis for massive digital storytelling all over the world and in Nigeria in particular. A feature of female digital storytelling in Nigeria is a range of covered problems. These are problems of violence and victimity, digital divide, access to the educational environment and the healthcare system. In 2014-2019 female digital storytelling in Nigeria changed significantly, with domestic and sexual violence became the main topic of discussion. These transformations are mostly related to the massive kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok on 14-15 of April 2014 coordinated by a terrorist organization Boko Haram in Borno State, Nigeria. The author has examined the case of the Facebook group FIN started by L.Omolola. Originally, the group was a virtual space for mutual support for Nigerians suffered from the events of the massive kidnapping in Chibok. Gradually, the group has transformed into a virtual support center for women suffered from violence. In 2019, the MeToo and ArewaMeToo Internet movements were widely spread in Nigeria’s social media. It is concluded there is a new form of female socio-political activism based on communication through social media in Nigeria.