As the General Elections in Nigeria gradually approach, tech titan Google has set up a portal with the aim of giving people a platform that allows them to search and find interesting trends as well as relevant information related to the general elections. Google is calling this portal or platform the Nigeria Elections Trends Hub.
This platform can be accessed via the Google Trends website and allows enthusiasts and users to compare the popularity of candidates in the presidential race based on searches. Users can also compare these candidates based on the questions that people ask about them via searches. As part of its features, this portal displays to people the search interest of candidates in the last 30 days using maps and graphs.
According to Google, the Nigeria Election Trends Hub is part of its wider initiative to support the 2023 elections. The initiatives also include providing training on the best ways to use YouTube to tell election stories for new and existing media publishers. Also, Google News Lab will be providing training to journalists with the aim of helping them learn how to use search and other Google tools including data visualization, verification, and fact-checking, to tell their stories.
Speaking on the initiative, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for West Africa said that “As Nigeria celebrates 24 years of democracy in the upcoming elections, our mission is to organize 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 organizing information to make it easy for voters to learn more about the candidates through the eyes of Google Trends.”
“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,” he added.