ABSTRACT The social and political context within which political parties operate has significantly changed in the twenty-first century. The global breakthrough in social media offers numerous possibilities for meaningful and equal participation, as well as chances for new forms of transparency and accountability, in ways that were until recently, unimaginable. This study identifies and discusses the specific ways in which political parties in Ghana have deployed social media in advancing their interest. It raises the challenges that have been encountered by political parties in their quest to tap the advantages of social media in prosecuting their ultimate agenda of capturing political power. It argues succinctly that even though social media has broad advantages, it has severe challenges that undermines its effectiveness and nullifies any attempt to use it as a substitute to traditional media in Ghana. The study recommends an improved use of traditional media as a means of reaching out to people by political parties, as well as the use of social media only as an ‘additional communication luxury’.

中文翻译：

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加纳的社交媒体，传统媒体和政党政治

摘要在二十一世纪，政党运作的社会和政治环境发生了巨大变化。社交媒体的全球突破为实现有意义和平等的参与提供了许多可能性，并且为直到最近还无法想象的方式提供了新形式的透明度和问责制的机会。这项研究确定并讨论了加纳各政党部署社交媒体以提高其利益的具体方式。它提出了政党在利用社交媒体的优势来起诉其夺取政权的最终议程时遇到的挑战。它简洁地指出，即使社交媒体具有广泛的优势，它面临着严峻的挑战，破坏了它的有效性，并且使它无法替代加纳传统媒体的任何尝试。该研究建议改进传统媒体的使用，作为政党与人们接触的一种手段，以及仅将社交媒体用作“额外的交流奢侈品”。