The Impact Of Social Media On The Development Of Ghana

Some people believe engaging on social media platforms is a waste of time and many brag about not being a part of such, but I tend to disagree with this assertion.

Social media platforms apart from providing employment for people in diverse ways have also had positive impact on Ghana.

Before the emergence of social media platforms, people hardly had the means and channel to communicate their grievances towards organizations and the government, but now with social media, people can easily express their grievances. This has played a part in resolving some of these grievances.

Social media is an amplifier and has led to the amplification of the voices of the masses who previously would not have been heard.

I think that social media has done a lot of good to Ghana than harm. In the days of old, citizens could hardly express their concerns about the policies and law enacted by the house of parliament and the government. The citizens hardly knew what was happening, but now the narrative has changed, and I believe it has changed in the right direction.

Citizens are able to share on social media what they think about the policies and laws their representatives are making on their behalf which tends to have an impact on the finality of some these decisions. For instance, when the house of parliament decided to build some new infrastructure, Ghanaians raised their voices against it because they realized it was misplaced priority. Due to the public outcry, that project has been suspended until further notice.

The public outcry on social media has not ended but continues with the proposed introduction of the current E-levy. Social media has given the public the opportunity to express their concerns as well as showing their lack of trust in leaders taking the best decisions for them. In the specific case of the E-Levy, the issue of the masses is not against paying taxes but rather that the taxes taken from them will not be used for projects that will benefit all.

I think the government should redraw the E-levy, put in a mechanism to gain public trust and then reintroduce the levy at a future date like a year from now. The government can gain public trust by cutting down unnecessary expenses, reduce wastage, maximize the current resources, keeping the people informed about all the government is doing with the resources at its disposal including how much it spends on what and why. I believe when trust is regained, the public will be willing to pay any levy since they know it would be used in their best interest.

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