Seeking self-determinism through social media: A critical analysis of representation issues for Zimbabwean youths

The emergence of social media is unveiling a new wave of self representation previously unheard of for the African youths. This paper seeks to explore traditional concepts of representations and stereotypes, investigating the role they currently play in the wake of the advancement of new media technologies particularly, social media. Facebook and Twitter offer a critical chance to redefine the portrayal, characterisations and depiction of long patronising and stereotyped images of Africans in the mainstream Western media. Several scholars have argued that the Western political discourse often lack a contextualised understanding of the continent, largely focusing on negative images including Africa's supposed democratic deficit. Pictures depicting a Africa badly affected by the demise of poverty, dictatorships and diseases often dominate the Western press. While social media does not completely deconstruct a Western image of the continent, its presence, we will through content analysis and interviews, argue, is offering young African youths an unprecedented chance to focus on issues they consider important.