In March 2020, the novel coronavirus began to spread in Nigeria, subsequently causing the government to ban large gatherings, and also enforce a lockdown that lasted for several weeks in Lagos, Abuja, and Ogun.
Staying indoors for so long was strange to everyone, even introverts. Still, we found new ways to stave off boredom by spending more time online.
The research team at ID Africa was curious about how young Nigerians spent their time online during the COVID-19 lockdown, and so they conducted a survey of 200 young Nigerians and studied the activities of social media users across their owned media assets – Netng, 234Star, Neusroom, and Orin.
According to the ID Africa report, young Nigerians were spending more time online (as expected!), especially on Whatsapp, Twitter, and Instagram. 46% of the respondents confirmed that they had been spending more time on Whatsapp. Another 26% responded that they used the Twitter app more, while 17% chose Instagram as their go-to app during the lockdown.
Whatsapp is one of the most commonly used messaging apps used by Nigerians to stay in touch with loved ones, business acquaintances, etc. With an active internet data subscription, the app allows users to send texts, make voice or video calls, all for free. Twitter and Instagram are also some of the more popular social media apps used in the country. People presumably used the apps to stay in touch with friends, while staying informed and entertained.
According to the report, more people also used video calls to connect with friends and family they could not go out to see. Video calls were also used for work meetings as well since most companies had to enforce remote working policies for staff during the lockdown.
There are different kinds of interesting things in the report. You can take a look at it here.