By Rita Okoye
Amearypearl, Engineer (Mrs) Shyllon Adeola has lamented the government ban on Twitter, saying that many commercial activities have been affected and several online vendors have lost their businesses due to inability to reach customers through direct messages on the social media platform.
According to Adeola, a strong advocate of utilising social media platforms for profitable activities, barely four weeks after the ban, many online businesses had crashed while others are struggling despite the availability of other social media platforms.
“Most online fashion businesses are interlinked with influencer marketing space and the reach of this mainly is on Twitter, which is the primary platform and while some now use VPN services, many customers that make business functional do not feel the need for this and have abandoned Twitter. Until government decides to lift the ban, this is crippling for small online businesses and startups.
“Social media, especially Twitter, is what many use to market, run campaigns and build relationships with their customers, and without access to this platform, it is like a death knell for businesses because while vendors can move their businesses to other platforms, their posts might not gain as much engagement as Twitter provides,” she said.
The boss of Amearypearl, however, urges government to consider the effects of the Twitter ban on the people and not just on its own sensitivities. “Actions that push the poverty index should be avoided,” she stated.