Mapping digital dogma: exploratory insight into echo chambers and influencers in Nigeria’s online discourse

How does digital dogma emerge at the intersection of influencer–follower interactions and platform logic? Drawing on a purposive sample of posts and comments from Nigerian political and lifestyle influencers and contextual digital communications, the study identifies patterns that reveal how influencers cultivate legitimacy through performative credibility and relatability. It further uncovers the salience of ethnic and religious signalling, and victimhood narratives in transforming dissent into betrayal and backlash into proof of authenticity. Followers further reinforce these dynamics through influencer mimicry and collective dissent policing, turning echo chambers into active arenas of enforcement. Perceptions of algorithmic amplification further shape behaviour, as influencers and followers believe provocative content travels faster than balanced commentary thus reinforcing cycles of conformity and provocation. The dynamics tell that digital dogma in Nigeria is a co-produced culture of discipline and belonging, where authority is continuously enacted through performance and selective amplification. The concept of digital dogma, as developed here, offers an interpretive lens for understanding how fragile democracies experience the context that resides at the intersection of identity, power, and platform logics in digital spaces.