By Chinenye Anuforo
In support of the upcoming 2023 elections in Nigeria, Google has unveiled a new portal, the Nigeria Elections Trends Hub, that will provide a platform for Nigerians to search and discover trending interests related to the presidential and vice presidential candidates, parties, and issues through the lens of Google Trends. The page, which can be accessed on the Google Trends website, allows users to compare the search popularity of the presidential candidates and trending questions being asked about them. The portal features maps and graphs displaying the search interest for the candidates over a period of 30 days.
This is a part of a broader initiative by Google to support the 2023 elections, which also includes trainings for new and media publishers on how to effectively use YouTube to tell election stories and training from the Google News Lab to help journalists learn how to use search and other Google tools for better storytelling, including data visualisation, verification and fact-checking.
As Nigeria celebrates 24 years of Democracy in the upcoming elections, Google’s mission to organise and make the world’s information universally accessible and useful is more relevant than ever. “We want Nigerians to be empowered with information during the upcoming elections, so we’re organising information to make it easy for voters to learn more about the candidates through the eyes of Google Trends,” said Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communications and Public Affairs Manager for West Africa. “More accessible and useful political information improves the political process and leads to greater citizen participation.”
The Nigeria Elections Trends Hub will help voters make more informed decisions at the polls, and have a greater voice in the political process. “We’re empowering voters so that they are not simply watching from afar, but participating, engaging with and shaping the political process in a democratic way,” added Kola-Ogunlade.
Google is committed to making search useful for Nigerians, and the Nigeria Elections Trends Hub is one of many initiatives that we are undertaking to support the 2023 elections, including training for new and media publishers and support for journalists, to help them tell more engaging stories.
