Elikem is sitting in a trendy bar in Takoradi. The city is situated on a stretch of coastline close to Ghana’s newly-found oil reserves and has become a magnet for people like him. Elikem has come here to join the army of skilled young people who will form the work force for the oil sector in the foreseeable future.

Tonight he is not working, but having drinks with friends after work at Champs, a popular hangout. Soon the chat swings – as it so often does among this clique these days – to social media. Glenda, his friend, asks what Elikem is tweeting.

“Not tweeting. I’m attending the BarCamp in Kumasi, so I’m registering online,” says Elikem. BarCamps are networking events that bring people together for a day of discussions about issues around internet awareness. Elikem is registering for the event scheduled to be in Ghana’s second city, Kumasi, about four hours drive from the bar he is now.

Award

Covering such distances to increase his knowledge capital is normal for Elikem, who is part of a growing generation of social media-savvy young people. The difference between him and others is that Elikem uses social media to improve his life and those of others - his lifestyle being the living proof. Alongside his day job, he is an active blogger and tweeter on social issues and general matters of internet development in Ghana and Africa.

His blog is seeing a steady rise in traffic –as well as some appreciable revenue from Google AdSense – as he increases his effective presence online. It has led him to invitations from places as varied as Tallinn, capital of Estonia (where he received a bloggers award in 2010) to Palo Alto, California, where he recently visited the Facebook headquarters and spoke to Mark Zuckerberg on improving social media activism in Africa.

Interesting, but not for me

Christian evangelist Glenda is sitting opposite Elikem. A conservative Christian, Glenda’s idea of social media is sharing conversation and day-to-day information with her friends on Facebook: “I really admire what Elikem does, but it’s beyond me. I see his progress, but it feels far away from me.”

She accompanies Elikem to the airport on his trips, shares in his emotional highs and lows of the social media landscape, but does not feel a part of it. Glenda respresents the overwhelming majority of social media users in Ghana - those who appreciate what it is doing for others, but do not see themselves as part of it.

Chatting

“For me, it’s not a matter of education,” Elikem says. “As a people we have reached a point where we have been given the platform. Now it is up to us to move.” The internet is a luxury for many as internet penetration is pegged at 5.3 percent, according to the International Telecommunications Union. However, and crucially, eighty percent of that figure is between 15 and 29 years.

Konadu Buahin, founder of internet company WebHost, argues that if half of this age bracket would take social media seriously, Ghana would be transformed. “Our population is about 24 million and that age bracket constitutes more than a quarter,” he says.

“We could increase our human resource base exponentially if these youths would channel the time they spend on chatting into activities that can foster positive change.”

Hooked on Twitter

And so back to the bar, where Elikem is done registering for the BarCamp. He asks Glenda if she can make it, explaining how she can apply the user-generated tips to enhance her social media experience. She chuckles: “I’ll start soon. As soon as I get the hang of Twitter, too!”

Glenda was introduced to Twitter a few weeks ago and is already hooked. It is unlikely at present that she will tap into the wealth of knowledge seated next to her. However, as Elikman hopes, that change may well come soon.