Social media has become an integral part of our lives, transforming the way we communicate, share information, and connect with others. Over the past few years, we have seen how social media platforms have been used to mobilize communities, raise awareness about social issues, and effect positive change. However, social media has also been criticized for spreading misinformation and promoting fake news, leading to negative consequences for individuals and communities.

To shed more light on this topic, Open Space Center with support from the US Mission Uganda, on the 23^rd February 2023 hosted its first community dialogue under the Youth Debate Support program. Under the project dialogue series, the dialogue brought together about 100 youth leaders, debate alumni, representatives of PWD, among many others, to discuss social media as a force for community transformation, misinformation, and disinformation.

The event begun with opening remarks from Rubaga divisions woman councilor Ms. Asha Namutebi who invited the team leader Open Space Wakib Bunnya. During his remarks, he reechoed the importance of the program and how debate and dialogue contributes to youth participation in civic issues. Similarly in the audience was joined by Miss Anna a representative from the American Center, who shared with the audience on how passionate the embassy is in exploring opportunity with young people. 

At the start of the dialogue, the panelists including Kato Festo a debate alumnus, Lauben Ssenyonjo, Namutebi Aisha, and Nattabi Margaret discussed how social media has been used to mobilize communities, raise awareness about social issues, and effect positive change,the dangers of false information and the potential harm it can cause to individuals and communities. They also talked about the role of social media in spreading rumors and promoting fake news, and the need for individuals to be vigilant and verify information before sharing it.

Throughout the discussions, both the panelists and participants at the audience come to an understanding that social media with is cons and pros can be used effectively for community development. From the audience, Ms. Nasozi Sylvia said, youth leadership ought to embrace social media for development.

 “We have seen the good social media can do, let us embrace it and do away with unemployment, today we have seen how social media has been a boost to businesses” Nasozi

On the other hand, Festo one of the Debate Alumni said there is need to learn and teach one another “The beauty in learning is the ability to be able to teach, as we embrace social media, let us teach, for others to learn and also teach on the different ways of using social media effectively. Festo

In conclusion, social media has become a powerful tool for community transformation, enabling individuals to connect, share ideas and knowledge, and mobilize for social change. However, the negative impact of misinformation and disinformation cannot be ignored, and individuals and communities must be vigilant in verifying information before sharing it. Open Space and U.S. Mission Uganda’s first community dialogue under the Youth Debate Support program was an important step in raising awareness about this critical issue and promoting constructive dialogue around it.

CONTEXT

The Youth Debate Support program is an initiative by Open Space Center with support from US Mission Uganda whose sole purpose is to contribute to good governance through encouraging youth to debate and dialogue around topical civic issues including human rights,democracy, peace building, leadership, media literacy and access to information. 

#YouthDebateSupport 

#DialogueSeries