×

How social media will define elections

The unprecedented growth in digital communication has given Kenyans a platform for political activism.

With the General Election barely five months away and intense political activity on social networks, it is safe to conclude that social media’s influence on the polls will be stronger than before.

The impact of social media as a tool of political engagement is already being felt profoundly with the growth in the various social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and YouTube.

According to the latest annual report, The State of the Internet in Kenya 2016, by Nendo, there are 6.1 million Kenyans on Facebook, up by 1.8 million users registered in 2015.

The number of monthly active users on Twitter stands at 2.2 million with a million daily active users.

WhatsApp is a popular chatting platform and is estimated to have 10 million users while Instagram and LinkedIn are estimated to have 3 million and 1.5 million respectively.

Politicians know that the quickest way to make news is to put out a statement and avoid paying for advertisement space.

Citizens have also found a more reliable way to be heard by incumbents and aspirants is to tweet them directly or tag them on Facebook posts using the latter’s personal accounts without going through their personal assistants or secretaries.

Experts attribute social media’s powerful influence in politics to the ability of the various platforms to hasten politicians’ and parties’ communication and reach potential voters in a more targeted manner and vice versa without the intermediate role of the traditional mass media.

Last year’s polls in America best illustrate how social media has gained popularity as a tool for political communication during electioneering periods.

According to data from SocialFlow, a social media management company whose software handles news dissemination for many of the country’s top media organisations, Donald Trump, who emerged the winner on a Republican ticket, had an unprecedented reach through tweets, shares, and likes.

In a year, the country collectively spent more than 1,284 years reading about Trump on social media. If he had sought similar attention by buying ads, Trump’s social reach would have cost $380 million (Sh38 billion).

With the majority of Kenyan voters being youthful, digitally literate, and with access to smartphones and the internet, the candidates to beat in the August polls will be the ones who effectively use social media.

Through the various platforms they will easily conduct targeted grassroots-based citizen campaigns and voter mobilisation.

The low side of social media is that if not used responsibly, it may lead to distortion of public discourses and fan ethnic animosities in young democracies like ours that previously witnessed ethnic-instigated violence.

This is why as we approach the polls, it behoves the general online community to exercise responsible use of digital platforms for political communication.

Although social networks offer the fastest means to disseminate news, it does not enjoy the professional gatekeeping role of editors in traditional media.

This has often given rise to cases of fake news, hence the need for verification of any information received before sharing on the various platforms.

Use of language with negative ethnic innuendo must also be avoided as this is what spews the venom that may lead to flare-ups, especially in the aftermath of the elections when certain groups are not pleased with the outcome.

Unless the Kenyan online community exercises caution in the use of digital social networks, it will have only itself to blame if the government decides to resort to drastic measures such as shutting down the internet, as happened in Uganda and Gabon.

The good news is that there are a number of initiatives going on to ensure responsible use of social media during and after the electioneering period.

The Kenya Social Media Awards, a platform that recognises and rewards individuals and organisations that have made significant contributions to the growth of social media, for instance, is partnering with Safaricom and OLX Kenya to educate various communities on the responsible use of digital networks.

Through partnerships, the organisations are supporting various digital platforms such as the SOMA Connect, which engages various corporate organisations on effective use of social media, enhancing brands’ equity and empowering the citizenry.

Various corporate organisations rely on social media for profiling and brand enhancement and any irresponsible use can cause reputational damage.

The Annual Olx SOMA Awards focus on recognition, education, and empowerment of targeted communities on the use of social media.

Through the platform, various communities are able to make positive use of the media as a tool for social transformation.

With more such initiatives, social media enthusiasts will be instrumental in shaping the outcome of the polls without pandering to misinformation and hatred which may fan the embers of ethnic animosity during the electioneering period.

Request history8.1.26PHP Version997msRequest Duration5MBMemory UsageGET {category}/article/{id}/{slug}Route
    • Booting (12.61ms)time
    • Application (985ms)time
    • 1 x Application (98.73%)
      985ms
      1 x Booting (1.26%)
      12.61ms
      11 templates were rendered
      • 1x mainsite.articlearticle.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.topsectionsubscribetopsectionsubscribe.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x common.poolpool.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.footerfooter.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.layouts.appapp.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.metasmetas.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.topbartopbar.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.logo_sectionlogo_section.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.menumenu.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.streamingstreaming.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.stickybottomstickybottom.blade.php#?blade
      uri
      GET {category}/article/{id}/{slug}
      middleware
      web
      controller
      App\Http\Controllers\MainsiteController@article
      namespace
      prefix
      where
      file
      app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:610-1128
      • Articles.php#513standard_digital_mainConnection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:513
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:657
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:658
      • Articles.php#520standard_digital_main12.13msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `long_title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium`, `keywords`, `summary` from `articles` where `id` = '2001233664' and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001233664
        • 1: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:520
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:657
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:658
      • Articles.php#1435standard_digital_main1.25msselect * from `days_quote` where `deleted_at` is null and `quote_day` = '2025-02-26'
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-02-26
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1435
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:660
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:661
      • Articles.php#528standard_digital_worldConnection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:528
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:665
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:666
      • Articles.php#531standard_digital_world4.44msselect `id`, `categoryid`, `title`, `long_title`, `story`, `related_video`, `thumbURL`, `keywords`, `publishday`, `updateddate`, `publishdate`, `author`, `source`, `premium`, `summary` from `std_article` where `id` = '2001233664' and `publishdate` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `inactive` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001233664
        • 1: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:531
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:665
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:666
      • Articles.php#535standard_digital_world_archives_1Connection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:535
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:665
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:666
      • Articles.php#538standard_digital_world_archives_16.25msselect `id`, `categoryid`, `title`, `long_title`, `story`, `related_video`, `thumbURL`, `keywords`, `publishday`, `updateddate`, `publishdate`, `author`, `source`, `premium`, `summary` from `std_article` where `id` = '2001233664' and `publishdate` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `inactive` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001233664
        • 1: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:538
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:665
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:666
      • Articles.php#147standard_digital_main1.07msselect `id` from `article_categories` where `site_id` = 1 and `id` = 33 or `parent_id` = 33 and `deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 33
        • 2: 33
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:147
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:727
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:728
      • Articles.php#164standard_digital_main10.32msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `article_category_id` in (33) and `site_id` = 1 and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' order by `published_at` desc, `list_order` asc, `parent_category_list_order` asc limit 10 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 33
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:164
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:727
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:728
      • Articles.php#53standard_digital_main1.08msselect `id`, `name`, `short_name`, `parent_id`, `site_id` from `article_categories` where `id` = 33
        Bindings
        • 0: 33
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:53
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:338
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:737
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#53standard_digital_main950μsselect `id`, `name`, `short_name`, `parent_id`, `site_id` from `article_categories` where `id` = 7
        Bindings
        • 0: 7
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:53
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:343
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:737
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#688standard_digital_main152msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where (`keywords` LIKE '%[\"Election2017\",\"political activism\",\"social media\"]%') and `site_id` = 1 and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `deleted_at` is null and `id` not in ('2001233664') order by `published_at` desc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: %["Election2017","political activism","social media"]%
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        • 3: 2001233664
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:688
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:821
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:822
      • Articles.php#424standard_digital_main153msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where (`site_id` = 1 or `site_id` = 16 or `site_id` = 20) and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `published_at` >= '2025-02-25 23:23:11' order by RAND(), `published_at` desc, `homepage_list_order` asc, `list_order` asc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 16
        • 2: 20
        • 3: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        • 4: 2025-02-25 23:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:424
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:825
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:826
      • Articles.php#424standard_digital_main2.13msselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (1, 417)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:424
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:825
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:826
      • Articles.php#147standard_digital_main4.17msselect `id` from `article_categories` where `site_id` = 1 and `id` = 480 or `parent_id` = 480 and `deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 480
        • 2: 480
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:147
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:829
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:830
      • Articles.php#164standard_digital_main1.98msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `article_category_id` in (480, 481, 482, 719) and `site_id` = 1 and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' order by `published_at` desc, `list_order` asc, `parent_category_list_order` asc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 480
        • 1: 481
        • 2: 482
        • 3: 719
        • 4: 1
        • 5: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:164
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:829
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:830
      • Articles.php#164standard_digital_main970μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (480, 482)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:164
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:829
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:830
      • Articles.php#753standard_digital_main92.3msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where (`premium` = 1 or `article_category_id` = 486) and `site_id` = '1' and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `homepage_list_order` is not null order by `published_at` desc, `homepage_list_order` asc, `list_order` asc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 486
        • 2: 1
        • 3: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:753
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:837
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:838
      • Articles.php#753standard_digital_main9.42msselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (1, 63, 417)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:753
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:837
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:838
      • Articles.php#819standard_digital_main1.22msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `id` < '2001233664' and `site_id` = 1 and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `deleted_at` is null order by `id` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001233664
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:819
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:841
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:842
      • Articles.php#822standard_digital_mainConnection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:822
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:841
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:842
      • Articles.php#833standard_digital_main5.82msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `id` < '2001233664' and `site_id` = 1 and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `deleted_at` is null order by `id` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001233664
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:833
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:841
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:842
      • Articles.php#836standard_digital_mainConnection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:836
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:841
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:842
      • Articles.php#847standard_digital_main4.62msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `site_id` = 1 and `id` < '2001233664' order by `id` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2001233664
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:847
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:841
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:842
      • Articles.php#865standard_digital_main1.39msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `id` > '2001233664' and `site_id` = 1 and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001233664
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:865
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:841
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:842
      • Articles.php#865standard_digital_main1.1msselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (7)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:865
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:841
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:842
      • Articles.php#1288standard_digital_main1.59msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `article_category_id` = 33 and `site_id` = 1 and `id` not in ('2001233664') order by `homepage_list_order` asc, `published_at` desc limit 6 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        • 1: 33
        • 2: 1
        • 3: 2001233664
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1288
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:845
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:846
      • Builder.php#20standard_digital_main30.45msselect `videos`.`id`, `videos`.`video_category_id`, `videos`.`title`, `videos`.`video_url`, `videos`.`description`, `videos`.`published_at`, `videos`.`thumbnail_url` from `videos` inner join `video_categories` on `video_categories`.`id` = `videos`.`video_category_id` where (`keywords` LIKE '%[\"Election2017\",\"political activism\",\"social media\"]%') and `videos`.`deleted_at` is null and `video_categories`.`video_type_id` = 1 order by `published_at` desc limit 3 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: %["Election2017","political activism","social media"]%
        • 1: 1
        Backtrace
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Query/Builder.php:20
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Traits/QueryCacheModule.php:103
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Traits/QueryCacheModule.php:84
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Query/Builder.php:21
      • Articles.php#3749standard_digital_main1.26msselect count(std_trend_article_id) as count, std_trend_article_id from `std_article_trends` group by `std_trend_article_id` order by `count` desc limit 20
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:3749
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:853
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:854
      • Articles.php#3775standard_digital_main1.56msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `id` in (2001249065, 2001512653, 2000198221, 2001463100, 2001503536, 2001512606, 2001449551, 2001512385, 2001512560, 2001512666, 2001512586, 2001486983, 2001260453, 2001512652, 2001512387, 2001512673, 2001504466, 2000218236, 2001296407, 2000108375) and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:11' and `homepage_list_order` is not null order by `published_at` desc, `homepage_list_order` asc, `list_order` asc limit 5
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001249065
        • 1: 2001512653
        • 2: 2000198221
        • 3: 2001463100
        • 4: 2001503536
        • 5: 2001512606
        • 6: 2001449551
        • 7: 2001512385
        • 8: 2001512560
        • 9: 2001512666
        • 10: 2001512586
        • 11: 2001486983
        • 12: 2001260453
        • 13: 2001512652
        • 14: 2001512387
        • 15: 2001512673
        • 16: 2001504466
        • 17: 2000218236
        • 18: 2001296407
        • 19: 2000108375
        • 20: 2025-02-26 00:23:11
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:3775
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:853
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:854
      • Articles.php#3775standard_digital_main860μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (1, 14, 63, 262, 273)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:3775
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:853
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:854
      • CookieTool.php#185standard_digital_main2.21msselect * from `settings` where `meta_name` = 'article_age' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: article_age
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/CookieTool.php:185
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:870
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Controller.php:54
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ControllerDispatcher.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:260
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main1.46msselect * from article_categories where id = '33'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main970μsselect * from article_categories where id = '33'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main1.16msselect * from article_categories where id = '33'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main980μsselect * from article_categories where id = '33'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • Articles.php#1350standard_digital_main171msselect * from `articles` where `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-02-26 00:23:12' and (`keywords` like '%Election2017%' or `keywords` like '%political activism%' or `keywords` like '%social media%') and (`site_id` = 1 or `site_id` = 16 or `site_id` = 20) and `id` <> '2001233664' order by `published_at` desc limit 3
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-02-26 00:23:12
        • 1: %Election2017%
        • 2: %political activism%
        • 3: %social media%
        • 4: 1
        • 5: 16
        • 6: 20
        • 7: 2001233664
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1350
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1672
        • view::mainsite.article:577
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
      • app.blade.php#825standard_digital_main1.02msselect * from `favourite_topics` where `status` = 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        Backtrace
        • view::mainsite.layouts.app:825
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      App\Models\Article
      21Article.php#?
      App\Models\Category
      20Category.php#?
      App\Models\Trending
      20Trending.php#?
      App\Topic
      16Topic.php#?
      App\Models\Author
      13Author.php#?
      App\Models\ArticleOld
      1ArticleOld.php#?
          _token
          yW8kSmRMb4WXD1gzP3KcweKhVMWzgXmdEbD2cQ9k
          offset
          0
          _previous
          array:1 [ "url" => "http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/main-staging/counties/article/2001233664/how-so...
          _flash
          array:2 [ "old" => [] "new" => [] ]
          path_info
          /counties/article/2001233664/how-social-media-will-define-elections
          status_code
          200
          
          status_text
          OK
          format
          html
          content_type
          text/html; charset=UTF-8
          request_query
          []
          
          request_request
          []
          
          request_headers
          0 of 0
          array:23 [ "cf-ray" => array:1 [ 0 => "917ac146c9076312-EWR" ] "x-forwarded-for" => array:1 [ 0 => "3.128.180.89" ] "host" => array:1 [ 0 => "www.standardmedia.co.ke" ] "cf-connecting-ip" => array:1 [ 0 => "3.128.180.89" ] "accept-encoding" => array:1 [ 0 => "gzip, br" ] "priority" => array:1 [ 0 => "u=0, i" ] "x-forwarded-proto" => array:1 [ 0 => "https" ] "sec-fetch-dest" => array:1 [ 0 => "document" ] "sec-fetch-user" => array:1 [ 0 => "?1" ] "cf-visitor" => array:1 [ 0 => "{"scheme":"https"}" ] "cf-ipcountry" => array:1 [ 0 => "US" ] "sec-fetch-mode" => array:1 [ 0 => "navigate" ] "cdn-loop" => array:1 [ 0 => "cloudflare; loops=1" ] "sec-fetch-site" => array:1 [ 0 => "none" ] "accept" => array:1 [ 0 => "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7" ] "connection" => array:1 [ 0 => "Keep-Alive" ] "user-agent" => array:1 [ 0 => "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)" ] "pragma" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache" ] "cache-control" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache" ] "sec-ch-ua" => array:1 [ 0 => ""HeadlessChrome";v="129", "Not=A?Brand";v="8", "Chromium";v="129"" ] "sec-ch-ua-mobile" => array:1 [ 0 => "?0" ] "sec-ch-ua-platform" => array:1 [ 0 => ""Windows"" ] "upgrade-insecure-requests" => array:1 [ 0 => "1" ] ]
          request_cookies
          []
          
          response_headers
          0 of 0
          array:5 [ "content-type" => array:1 [ 0 => "text/html; charset=UTF-8" ] "cache-control" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache, private" ] "date" => array:1 [ 0 => "Tue, 25 Feb 2025 21:23:12 GMT" ] "set-cookie" => array:2 [ 0 => "XSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkxoUy8xZHp4eXVGUmpBb2dWcnluOUE9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiR2dZaFpwTXlPNDcwUnloaEJoL0N5THBxK2ZXVDRkOHhCUEZ0TXZiVkR4NVM2bll5NTJnOFRzZFV1M3MrWVdlL1htVWNGSCs5b2lJYWsvY0tjcE9YaFNlNjEyUE9OOFVFYmVUSkU4eVBBeDUrWVlqOVluREt0d1lleHJHNFprYnoiLCJtYWMiOiI4NTUzZGU2ZjMxNTIyYzljOTA1MzlmNTk0OWExOTBkODk5MjNmMTFmNjM0YmU3Njc2OTc4NGQzZjZjYmZlYmNlIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Fri, 28 Mar 2025 07:52:12 GMT; Max-Age=2629740; path=/; samesite=laxXSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkxoUy8xZHp4eXVGUmpBb2dWcnluOUE9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiR2dZaFpwTXlPNDcwUnloaEJoL0N5THBxK2ZXVDRkOHhCUEZ0TXZiVkR4NVM2bll5NTJnOFRzZFV1M3MrWVdlL1htVWNGS" 1 => "thestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkoxM3FFb2M2WHZDOUNvMFM3UkRFSWc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiVGtSRUc0LzRLbkczNVBtSkRYaXZyMWpCaTVNSldkR1hjV296U2kwYTNZNldMU1dITzRTVkU5UmFYdmYzNnBHY0dnVll2NnBFYlI0a0h2c2VDMDZlbzdzYjFacEJCeGZUNTNQaXVRTFB2NTBaaDVOYVo5Mk5kWEpjSG5lSWF6MFAiLCJtYWMiOiJlOTgyOWY4YWVjMjZlOWM1MDgyMmI3MmUxNmJlM2I3NjczMjQ2Y2JlZThlMjJlZWQxNzA0ZjJhNzQ3OTgzOGZkIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Fri, 28 Mar 2025 07:52:12 GMT; Max-Age=2629740; path=/; httponly; samesite=laxthestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkoxM3FFb2M2WHZDOUNvMFM3UkRFSWc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiVGtSRUc0LzRLbkczNVBtSkRYaXZyMWpCaTVNSldkR1hjV296U2kwYTNZNldMU1dITzRTVkU5Um" ] "Set-Cookie" => array:2 [ 0 => "XSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkxoUy8xZHp4eXVGUmpBb2dWcnluOUE9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiR2dZaFpwTXlPNDcwUnloaEJoL0N5THBxK2ZXVDRkOHhCUEZ0TXZiVkR4NVM2bll5NTJnOFRzZFV1M3MrWVdlL1htVWNGSCs5b2lJYWsvY0tjcE9YaFNlNjEyUE9OOFVFYmVUSkU4eVBBeDUrWVlqOVluREt0d1lleHJHNFprYnoiLCJtYWMiOiI4NTUzZGU2ZjMxNTIyYzljOTA1MzlmNTk0OWExOTBkODk5MjNmMTFmNjM0YmU3Njc2OTc4NGQzZjZjYmZlYmNlIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Fri, 28-Mar-2025 07:52:12 GMT; path=/XSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkxoUy8xZHp4eXVGUmpBb2dWcnluOUE9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiR2dZaFpwTXlPNDcwUnloaEJoL0N5THBxK2ZXVDRkOHhCUEZ0TXZiVkR4NVM2bll5NTJnOFRzZFV1M3MrWVdlL1htVWNGS" 1 => "thestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkoxM3FFb2M2WHZDOUNvMFM3UkRFSWc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiVGtSRUc0LzRLbkczNVBtSkRYaXZyMWpCaTVNSldkR1hjV296U2kwYTNZNldMU1dITzRTVkU5UmFYdmYzNnBHY0dnVll2NnBFYlI0a0h2c2VDMDZlbzdzYjFacEJCeGZUNTNQaXVRTFB2NTBaaDVOYVo5Mk5kWEpjSG5lSWF6MFAiLCJtYWMiOiJlOTgyOWY4YWVjMjZlOWM1MDgyMmI3MmUxNmJlM2I3NjczMjQ2Y2JlZThlMjJlZWQxNzA0ZjJhNzQ3OTgzOGZkIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Fri, 28-Mar-2025 07:52:12 GMT; path=/; httponlythestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkoxM3FFb2M2WHZDOUNvMFM3UkRFSWc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiVGtSRUc0LzRLbkczNVBtSkRYaXZyMWpCaTVNSldkR1hjV296U2kwYTNZNldMU1dITzRTVkU5Um" ] ]
          session_attributes
          0 of 0
          array:4 [ "_token" => "yW8kSmRMb4WXD1gzP3KcweKhVMWzgXmdEbD2cQ9k" "offset" => 0 "_previous" => array:1 [ "url" => "http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/main-staging/counties/article/2001233664/how-social-media-will-define-elections" ] "_flash" => array:2 [ "old" => [] "new" => [] ] ]
          ClearShow all
          Date ↕MethodURLData
          #12025-02-26 00:23:12GET/main-staging/counties/article/2001233664/how-social-media-will-define-elections113391