Secrecy, security and Social exchange: new media and cross-generational dating in Nigeria

Abstract

Although studies that examine the uses and influence of new media in Africa have always focused on national trends and mainstream groups, the peculiar appropriation of the new media by sub-cultural groups has received little attention. This paper examines the appropriation of the new media by female undergraduate students involved in cross-generational dating in southwestern Nigeria. It addresses how this group of students deploy the new media in their dating practice with older male partners, and how the new media in turn influence their activities. Drawing on ethnographic field work on three Nigerian university campuses, findings indicate that female students involved in cross- generational dating employ the new media to connect with older male partners, nurse the connections and/or to disconnect. The respondents also reveal that the new media are highly valued because they ensure secrecy, which is important in their practice of cross-generational dating. Through their utility in tracking members of the group, the new media are helpful for security purpose. The media have also come to be a status symbol within and outside the group, and to signify a currency of exchange. There is a reciprocal relationship between cross-generational dating and the use of exotic