Today, Facebook (FB) is the most popular social networking site on the planet, at least according to Alexa (http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=global&lang=none). Going through FB, I noticed the following groups:

*YOUNG, FLY AND IGBO - 6,857 members
*Igbo Girls are Sexy!!! - 2,974 members


*Young, Fly & Yoruba - 4,356 members
*Yoruba Girls are so Sexy! - 984 members


Given the following assumptions, how does one interpret the figures above?

1. There is no significant difference in internet accessibility among Yorubas (Y) and Igbos (G)
2. There is no significant difference in awareness of FB
3. Interest in using FB for social networking is comparable between groups Y and G
4. Interest level in joining FB groups are comparable
5. Proportion of ethnic Ys joining group G and ethnic Gs joining group Y are not significantly different
6. Proportion of group Y members who are not ethnic Ys is comparable to proportion of group G members who are not ethnic Gs


Have you noticed any other interesting statistics on Facebook?

Explanations, ideas and comments are welcome.

What do you mean by all these jargon?

I just hope you are not driving to where i'm thinking. . . . . . . MC Usman where u dey?

What do you mean by all these jargon?

Richy tire me ooo!!!!! big grammer without meaning
if he is an hausa man l would have forgive him, for a southerner its a disgrace

Ibime come and see ooo. . . . . . its now confirmed that Facebook is now part of the conspiracy to side track the minority groups in Nigeria, only that this time; the Housas and fulanis are not involved. Its now WABIA instead of WAZOBIA.

I know that some cynics like bilymuse will quickly say, "wetin concern mallam with facebook"

how does this relate to politics?

Need anybody remind you that anything that has to do with Federal character is automatically politics in Nigeria?
Simple fact is that other tribes were not given enough quota in Facebook.

So, Yaradua should prepare to ban facebook like it is trying to do for BA and Ethiopian airlines.

It seems some of you misunderstood the post. Let me try to clarify things.

Nigeria's last population census exercise was a joke! We're all aware of that. Not even the corrupt Nigerian legislature was stupid enough to ratify such a profoundly rigged census. I mean, there is no way the present-day Kano (smaller than the old Kano due to the creation of Jigawa state) can have more population than Lagos state. The quest to understand Nigeria's demography goes on.

Aside from studying Nigeria's demography from the stand point of political sub entities like states, local government areas, etc., one can approach the issue from and ethnic stand point. However, the ethnic perspective can potentially include groups outside of Nigeria's boarders, e.g. we have Yoruba-speaking people in Benin Republic.

Due to migration, and other factors, we now have ethnic nationalities native to Nigeria scattered all over the world. Hence, a demographic study of these ethnic nationalities does not have to be constrained by the biased politics within Nigeria. Social networking sites like Facebook have over 100 million active users and may be valuable tools in conducting a demographic study of any ethnic nationality, albeit among the younger demographic group.

Focusing on two nationalities, Igbos and Yorubas, we see that Wikipedia's estimates "over 30 million " for both ethnic nationalities.

So, the question now becomes how do we explain the greater number of people identifying/associating themselves with "Igbo" than with "Yoruba" in the largest social networking site on the planet?

This is an exercise in understanding the demography of ethnic nationalities native to Nigeria (with Yoruba and Igbo chosen as examples), and not an exercise in projecting ethnic bias.

Trying to understand why and how many people identify themselves with a particular ethnic group is in of itself an unbiased objective.

bilymuse:

Richy tire me ooo!!!!! big grammer without meaning
if he is an hausa man l would have forgive him, for a southerner its a disgrace

RichyBlack a disgrace? I'll keep my cool for now. However, I encourage you to read my second post. I see nothing wrong in trying to know how many we are. We both know that we cannot rely on Nigeria's government to conduct any credible census.

If not Facebook (the largest social networking site on the planet), then what? What ideas can you tender in trying to resolve this issue of how many we are? Whether you are Ijaw, Itsekiri, Bini, Efik, etc., do you know how many people in this world identify themselves with your ethnic group? Do you care to know? Provide ideas! Suggest solutions!

nuzo:

Ibime come and see ooo. . . . . . its now confirmed that Facebook is now part of the conspiracy to side track the minority groups in Nigeria, only that this time; the Housas and fulanis are not involved. Its now WABIA instead of WAZOBIA.

lol. . . . you dey craze!

nuzo:

Simple fact is that other tribes were not given enough quota in Facebook.

lol. . . . you dey craze x 2.



Anyway, RichyBlack, WTF is this about?

RichyBlacK:

So, the question now becomes how do we explain the greater number of people identifying/associating themselves with "Igbo" than with "Yoruba" in the largest social networking site on the planet?

Yorubas are probably less tribal. . . . we discussed in the culture thread why Yorubas do not go back to their village for Christmas and we saw that many Yorubas do not identify too much with their village or town, but rather the city they live in.

*Sigh*

How perfect the world would be if we all used an unrestricted social network to find out how things work!!

Never mind that some people can have more than one account or that some people aren't just into these kind things. . . Nope, those are by the ways, nothing of importance. Facebook says there are more Igbo than Yorubas and Hausa don't even exist and that is what we're gonna go with gosh darn it!

It is Facebook! Duh!

o di mma

Sisikill:

*Sigh*

How perfect the world would be if we all used an unrestricted social network to find out how things work!!

Never mind that some people can have more than one account or that some people aren't just into these kind things. . . Nope, those are by the ways, nothing of importance. Facebook says there are more Igbo than Yorubas and Hausa don't even exist and that is what we're going to go with gosh darn it!

It is Facebook! Duh!

Don't have to bring sarcasm into a serious discussion. If you don't have anything to contribute beyond pedestrian sarcastic comments, then make you kukuma waka go!

bilymuse:

Richy tire me ooo!!!!! big grammer without meaning
if he is an hausa man l would have forgive him, for a southerner its a disgrace

Too much big grammer! I feel your pain; using all those big words like: demographics, assumptions, networking, and Wikipedia can be a major problem

RichyBlacK:

Don't have to bring sarcasm into a serious discussion. If you don't have anything to contribute beyond pedestrian sarcastic comments, then make you kukuma waka go!

Sucks when someone debunks your stupid post,

Sisikill:

*Sigh*

How perfect the world would be if we all used an unrestricted social network to find out how things work!!

Never mind that some people can have more than one account or that some people aren't just into these kind things. . . Nope, those are by the ways, nothing of importance. Facebook says there are more Igbo than Yorubas and Hausa don't even exist and that is what we're going to go with gosh darn it!

It is Facebook! Duh!

The original poster is perhaps a facebookaholic and believes everyone on earth should be too,

JosBoy4Lif:

Sucks when someone debunks your stupid post,

The original poster is perhaps a facebookaholic and believes everyone on earth should be too,

@JosBoy4Lif,

You are a stupid fool! Don't talk to me that way asswipe!

Ibime:

lol. . . . you dey craze!

lol. . . . you dey craze x 2.



Anyway, RichyBlack, WTF is this about?

Yorubas are probably less tribal. . . . we discussed in the culture thread why Yorubas do not go back to their village for Christmas and we saw that many Yorubas do not identify too much with their village or town, but rather the city they live in.

Interesting point of view; however, there are those that will disagree with you on that. There is reason to believe that though, given how accomodating Yorubas have been in Lagos.

Does that mean that identifying with an ethnic group, even if on a social networking site like Facebook, is a measure of tribalism?

RichyBlacK:

@JosBoy4Lif,

You are a stupid fool! Don't talk to me that way asswipe!

Thanks, that is real mature. But coming from someone who can start a stupid thread like this it does not surprise me

JosBoy4Lif:

Thanks, that is real mature. But coming from someone who can start a stupid thread like this it does not surprise me

You're just an idiot. You started the insult and I responded in kind. If you don't like insults then post your comment with civility. If you insult me I will respond in kind! Nonsense!

It could mean anything:

a)That Igbos are more conceited;you have to admit it takes some level of hubris to identify yourself as "young & fly" or "sexy". Alternatively,it could be argued the Yorubas are less so.

b) That young Igbos ,in contrast to young Yorubas,are more likely to identify with their ethnic background.

c) Lastly, the most likely, that this is just statistical noise. Some anomaly,which given the lack of any general study of the issue,might as well be unique and might not be replicated in other places.

@ Poster,

well i just have to say that you should know that those figures from facebook represents our indigenes mostly of whom are in the diaspora. I've found out that 80 - 90% of naija peeps on facebook are abroad,

4 Play:

It could mean anything:

a)That Igbos are more conceited;you have to admit it takes some level of hubris to identify yourself as "young & fly" or "sexy". Alternatively,it could be argued the Yorubas are less so.

b) That young Igbos ,in contrast to young Yorubas,are more likely to identify with their ethnic background.

c) Lastly, the most likely, that this is just statistical noise. Some anomaly,which given the lack of any general study of the issue,might as well be unique and might not be replicated in other places.

4 Play,

Thanks for your insight. This is what we're talking about. Bring up ideas and suggestions, not insults like some have been doing.

So, how does one conduct a study to find out the relative demographic size of two or more ethnic nationalities? I have some ideas but seeking more or better ones.

fizokey:

@ Poster,

well i just have to say that you should know that those figures from facebook represents our indigenes mostly of whom are in the diaspora. I've found out that 80 - 90% of naija peeps on facebook are abroad,

@fizokey,

That's an interesting statistics. It seems true though. Thanks for the ideas.

was RichyBlack just tired and had nothing else to do today?

Maybe because more Igbos immigrate? Myself, and many other Nigerians in Los Angeles are Igbo. Does anyone know? Can many Yorubas afford the internet? Aren't most Nigerians who are on the Internet Igbo anyway?










~Just Kidding, I know Yorubas can afford the internet as much as any other group, I was just adding humor.~ ka o di!!!

@ topic, it's kinda weird relying on facebook(a foreign social whatever) for our statistical data,

don't know about these statistics on facebook.

Igbos are generally very community oriented, so a facebook group called Young Fly and Igbo is likely to quickly fill up and have a lot of members. Its quite rare for an Igbo person not to identify with fellow Igbos.

A facebook group called Young Fly and Yoruba, on the other hand, will have some Yorubas, but it doesnt mean the majority of Yorubas on Facebook are members of this group. Some Yorubas will see it and still pass on by, not bothering to join, or else wanting to stay in their own clique elsewhere.

Take me for example. I'm Yoruba and active on nairaland yet I've only checked the Yoruba thread (see below) maybe twice. Never posted there either. Why? I find the discussions hard to follow.

What I'm saying is I'm not sure the group numbers are an accurate yardstick to base a categorical statement on.


Check this out:

Igbo kwenu thread, Join us if you can speak Igbo/are proud to be Igbo:  17059 replies, 78455 views.

Yoruba speaking thread: Join us if you can speak Yoruba: 4746 replies, 34840 views.



draw conclusions then look at some other data:


Igbo Kwenu thread: first post July 2006.

Yoruba thread: first post April 2007.



https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/board-55.0.html


Igbo kwenu thread was started almost a year before Yoruba speaking thread. This is one of the facts which should be considered in order to make an informed analysis of the initial information.


Am not sure how many Igbos there are in general, but I do know they're very community oriented, and tend to respond to anything that involves the culture.

Ibime:


Yorubas are probably less tribal. . . . we discussed in the culture thread why Yorubas do not go back to their village for Christmas and we saw that many Yorubas do not identify too much with their village or town, but rather the city they live in.

@ bolded: You saw wrong.

The vast majority of Yorubas identify strongly with their hometowns and villages, regardless where they actually live.

Yes, typical Ibo's ,

   I just visited the group now, guess what i saw as a topic folks?, Whats wrong marrying a virgin

To come to a logical conclusion. . . you know what, forget conclusion to even begin forming a logical hypothesis, You need data that makes sense. Using Facebook does not make sense because it is not restricted.

Is there anything in place stopping anyone from having multiple accounts? NO.

Is there anything in place stopping people from being part of more than one tribal group? NO

Is there anything in place stoppng you from having multiple accounts AND joining more than one tribal group? NO

Facebook can only be used to find the demographics of people who have a lot of time on their hands. . .  even that one sef, still get as e be.

By the way, I am not insulting people oh, Me too I have facebook account.

I wonder what kind of joint Richy was smoking when he started this thread.

@poster

Believe it or not, I can see far beyond ur facade. What exactly are u trying to pass across, prove to us that the Igbos are more than the Yorubas in terms of number, or that they are more technologically inclined? Why not come out more openly, so we can contribute more meaningfully to the discussion.

RichyBlack a disgrace? I'll keep my cool for now. However, I encourage you to read my second post. I see nothing wrong in trying to know how many we are. We both know that we cannot rely on Nigeria's government to conduct any credible census.

I guess we can trust a credible source like richyblackass cant we ? the almighty idiot that has got more accurate info than the Nigerian govt.