Social Media and Mass Mobilisation: An Analysis of X (Twitter) and the #EndSARS Protest

Abstract

The #EndSARS protest that swept across Nigeria in October 2020 remains a defining illustration of how social media can amplify collective outrage and transform dispersed sentiments into coordinated civic action. This study examines the catalytic role of X (formerly Twitter) in shaping the movement’s visibility, sustaining communication flows, and enabling mass mobilisation across diverse social and geographic communities, echoing broader scholarly arguments about the power of networked digital platforms in contemporary activism (Castells; Jenkins; Mora). Using a quantitative approach, the study deployed an online questionnaire distributed via Google Forms to 537 respondents across Lagos, Ekiti, and Abuja, yielding 470 valid responses after data cleaning. The findings reveal that 72 percent of participants viewed X as a major catalyst for mobilisation, while 25.5 percent identified hashtags as pivotal features for amplifying the protest’s messages, and 74 percent affirmed the platform’s critical role in communication and coordination among activists. These results resonate with research on participatory cultures and the networked public sphere, suggesting that X’s design – its immediacy, virality, and user-generated affordances – shaped both the tempo and texture of the movement (Akinyetun; Nnaemeka; Tufekci and Wilson). The study contributes to ongoing debates about digital activism by illustrating how online platforms influence the cultural performance of protest and the construction of collective consciousness in moments of national crisis. Overall, it highlights the evolving ways in which digital infrastructures reconfigure sociopolitical participation and shape the possibilities of civic transformation in the digital age.