This data is from Quartz and it reports of a social media platform I am just hearing: Koo. In that report is a table which shows how the social media platforms are doing in Nigeria. WhatsApp leads the race followed by Facebook. Indeed, one can say that Nigeria is a Facebook nation since WhatsApp and Facebook belong to Facebook Inc. You can also add Instagram and FB Messenger which also belong to Facebook Inc. This explains why Nigeria could not “suspend” Facebook when it cut-off Twitter even as both deleted the same “the language they understand” post of President Buhari.
Almost a week after the indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operations announced by the Nigerian government took effect on June 4, accounts for the “Government of Nigeria” and other government officials were created on Indian microblogging platform, Koo.
All the accounts created were afterwards verified with a yellow badge and have started putting out regular official updates. The Government of Nigeria page has amassed 49,000 followers, compared to the 1.4 million followers on its Twitter page. Koo presents itself as a Twitter alternative with less stringent moderation policies.
Koo’s CEO, Aprameya Radhakrishna, welcomed the Nigerian government to the app, also announcing their first international extension plan into Africa’s most populous country and their plans to use local Nigerian languages on the app. Growth in India was bolstered by government support and the use of local languages. However, it remains uncertain whether Koo will thrive in the diverse Nigerian market in the same way it did in its home market, India, where it has over 6 million users.
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