The most significant power struggle of today is taking place in the digital world. It revolves around the fight for our understanding of rea...
The most significant power struggle of today is taking place in the digital world. It revolves around the fight for our understanding of reality. What was once seen as a far-off danger is now an escalating attack on our focus and convictions, constantly evolving to influence what we regard as true.
A communication scholar named George Gerbner, who held the belief that 'television can mix, twist, and obscure social reality,' developed his ideas within a particular historical setting: the mid-20th century period of broadcast dominance. Gerbner's Cultivation Theory was created at a time when only a few major networks acted as the primary storytellers for entire countries, shaping a fairly uniform cultural mainstream. This represented a one-to-many communication model, where the ability to influence perception was controlled by a small group of gatekeepers. The worry was that a continuous intake of televised stories, especially those highlighting violence and societal dangers, would slowly create a skewed, 'mean-world syndrome' in the public mind. Nowadays, as we look at the dynamic and fast-changing digital economies of countries such as Nigeria, Gerbner's theory is not seen as outdated in today's environment, but rather remarkably accurate, having adapted to a new, decentralised, and algorithm-based media landscape. The shift from traditional broadcasting to a digital, interactive culture has greatly increased the processes of blending, twisting, and distorting, posing a huge challenge to media literacy in an age marked by false information, misleading content, and misrepresentation.
Nigeria serves as a strong example of this digital shift. With a population surpassing 200 million, the nation has experienced a rapid embrace of digital media. According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission and different research companies, there are more than 160 million internet users, with increasing social media usage, especially among younger generations. Platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter (now X), and Instagram have become essential for business, politics, social mobilization, and everyday communication, driving a growing digital economy that spans from influencer marketing to financial technology. However, this swift adoption has surpassed the development of necessary media literacy systems. The historical background of Gerbner's research reminds us that all media function as environments, and the Nigerian people have been thrown into a dense, uncontrolled digital landscape where the map is often obsolete by the time it is created.
In this new environment, the "blending" Gerbner observed is no longer simply about combining news and entertainment. It has evolved into a complete merging of contexts, authorities, and purposes. A Nigerian social media user's feed is like a kaleidoscope, where a religious leader's prophetic message is next to a breaking news update, a viral meme challenges government policies, a family member shares an unverified health tip, or an influencer promotes a financial "guaranteed win." This digital integration leads to a context collapse, where the authority of a trusted organization is reduced to the same level as a personal story or a deliberately misleading narrative. The "bending" of social reality is now shaped by advanced algorithms that prioritize engagement over factual accuracy. These algorithms, in their constant quest for clicks, consistently promote content that is attention-grabbing, emotionally intense, or reinforces existing ethnic, religious, and political prejudices. This results in a distorted view of reality where extreme opinions seem normal, social agreement is fake, and moderate perspectives are overshadowed, leading to a more divided national conversation.
Most significantly, the merging of fact and fiction has emerged as the central characteristic of the information environment. The boundary that Gerbner observed becoming unclear on television has largely disappeared in the digital world, particularly in two key areas. Misinformation: false information spread without harmful intent now spreads rapidly through family WhatsApp groups, frequently concerning public health or safety. Disinformation: intentionally created and distributed to mislead, is increasingly used by political figures and malicious entities to distort perceptions, provoke violence, or weaken societal trust. This distortion is especially powerful, reducing complex individuals or entire communities to basic, often negative, stereotypes for political or social advantage. The recent surge in AI-generated content, including deepfake videos and synthetic audio, threatens to further diminish any remaining confidence, making it extremely difficult for the average person to tell real evidence from a highly convincing fake.
The challenge of media literacy, therefore, is no longer just about helping people recognize reliable sources within a collection of published materials. It involves preparing them to handle a constantly changing, interactive space where everyone acts as both a consumer and a possible content provider. This task is immense: individuals must now learn to detect the subtle signs of algorithmic influence, grasp the financial incentives behind sensational headlines, identify emotional tactics designed to encourage sharing, and confirm the authenticity of digital content in an era where fabrication is simple. This demands a major change in educational approaches, shifting from conventional teaching methods to integrate critical digital skills as a fundamental life ability.
For a nation like Nigeria, which has a large young population and significant digital potential, achieving success in this area is far more than just an educational objective—it's an economic and national security necessity. A population that cannot distinguish between digital truth and falsehood is susceptible to influence, social chaos, and flawed choices, which ultimately hampers the prospects of its digital economy. The historical insights from Gerbner's studies offer a clear warning. The centralized storyteller of the broadcast era has been substituted by countless algorithm-driven voices. As a result, our challenge is no longer solely against one narrative that distorts reality, but against a multitude of realities, each expertly crafted to merge, twist, and obscure, until shared truth is the ultimate victim.
Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id, a media expert, shared his insights from Abuja.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
