Young People Mobilize: Political Participation on the Rise - Research Paper

Introduction

There has been high political participation among young people in the recent years where scholars of political science have sought to investigate the factors that may have led to the increased interest of young people to take part in politics and even take part in voting. The political sphere is changing due to numerous global factors that may have impacted on the interests and shifts that necessitate more active participation especially by the young people (Allam, Azni, & Khamis, 2016). In this regard, political scientists are wondering how political activities are happening in the modern times, why the young people are being involved in extreme political situations and the factors that drive young people to participate in voting. Social media is one of the factors that has been considered to have influenced the participation of youth in politics and hence influencing their decisions of voting (Mhlomi & Osunkunle, 2017). Media and political scholars believe that increased social media use by young adults has shaped their perception towards politics hence triggering their emotions to vote. Therefore, this topic of interest describes the significant occurrences regarding social media and how it shapes modern politics, especially among young adults.

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Research Question and Hypothesis

The role of conventional media, whether offline media or through the internet, regarding the influence in young adults' political participation, has attracted significant interest among researchers and political scientists. A lot of scholarly attention has been drawn on the role of social media in influencing young people to engage in politics (Mhlomi & Osunkunle, 2017). Some studies have demonstrated that the increased use of social media has shaped the minds and interests of young people regarding the political affiliations hence making them take part in voting (Gary, Francis, & Lee, 2013). However, other pieces of study and analysts have refuted such claims depicting that social media has no direct influence on political decisions made by young adults. Therefore, this study seeks to evaluate whether there is a correlation between the use of social media among young adults and their decision to take part in political activities, particularly voting. The study hypothesizes that social media has provided a platform of emotional exchange, which triggers political feelings among the youth hence motivating them to engage in politics. Besides, it is noted that young people are no longer interested in reading newspapers for political news but are rather interested in searching political news in social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook (Gary, Francis, & Lee, 2013). Therefore, such engagements in social media are noted to facilitate online political communication and participation that influences young adults towards political engagements, including voting.

Description of the Research Argument

Research has revealed that social media attracts young people significantly due to emotional response triggers (Mhlomi & Osunkunle, 2017). It has been demonstrated that social media triggers the cognitive as well as emotional factors that play a role in either motivating or demotivating the young. Various cognitive, as well as emotional factors, play an important role in motivating and demotivating the youth regarding their engagement in politics. Some of the common emotions that are demonstrated by the youth regarding the political environment as well as the political participation include skepticism and frustration. Studies have also demonstrated that young engage in political contents available online based on the availability (or lack) of accessible, appealing, as well as constructive communication that addresses the needs of the young people. In this regard, political propagandists are using social media to portray a coded message that will trigger political emotions among young people. Therefore, such young people who can hardly reason independently are influenced to vote for them. Additionally, the political propagandist and strategists are micro-targeting the voters to owe them by providing certain pieces of information that seems appealing to a certain population about particular issues (Keating & Melis, 2017). The recognition of social media addiction among the youth has created a favorable and useful platform for these political strategists to run their political campaigns that move the youth towards participating in political decisions. Misinformation has also been noted to be key among the apathetic voters who have a low political self-efficacy. In this regard, social media is seen to be a favorable platform in this digital era to facilitate a constant sensory overload that triggers young adults into voting.

Pertinent Background Information

The recent research regarding political participation by the youth has been a microcosm for larger debates about the evolution of political engagements in the post-industrial era (Keating & Melis, 2017). It has been established that the public participation towards the traditional forms of democratic engagements, including voting and joining political parties has declined especially in the developed countries. However, the technological revolution that has been wrought by the internet is seen to have played a key role in proliferating these new types of political actions as well as expressions. Most people, especially the youth have lost a lot of interest in political activities including voting as they do not have a conviction that their issues will be addressed (Goodman, Wennerstrom, & Springgate, 2011). To get them to take part in the voting, one must significantly convince them by triggering their cognitive and emotional feelings. Therefore, researchers have demonstrated that social media provides a platform and space where new voices can be heard, especially by the previously marginalized groups hence the possibility to lobby for a change. The proponents for this view indicate that it is easy to mobilize the younger populations hence demonstrating a democratizing potential for the youth to take part in political activities, especially voting.

Justification and Significance of the Study

The role of social media, especially among the young people in the modern societies, has been a major debate with communities and parents being concerned with the negative effects it causes to the youth. However, as noted in the literature analysis, social media could be an effective tool that is motivating youth adults to participate in democratic activities such as voting which facilitates the democratization of nations (Keating & Melis, 2017). However, research has also demonstrated that internet and social media may not be a significant factor for young people to either vote or not to, with arguments that young adults are preoccupied in their education, the transition to adulthood, and finding employment among other factors that may hinder engagement in political activities. However, studies have demonstrated that social media platforms enable the users to be proactive hence facilitating an avenue to disseminate and consume important political information that can aid in political decisions. Social media is also noted to be changing the nature of modern relationships hence facilitating political engagements among the youth. Considering the need for democratization globally, social media could be a critical platform to save the future of the nations by ensuring that all people engage in democratic activities like voting. Therefore, the study will provide details that are essential not only for political strategists but also for nations which need to ensure democratic growth is achieved.

References

Allam, S., Azni, Z., & Khamis, M. (2016). Social media and political participation among young people. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences, 1, 95-114. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ee94/d91e91b5618e47ccd383667553298a901204.pdf

Gary, T., Francis, L., & Lee, F. (2013). Facebook use and political participation: the impact of exposure to shared political information, connections with public political actors, and network structural heterogeneity. Social Science Computer Review, 763-773. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439313490625

Goodman, J., Wennerstrom, A., Springgate, B. (2011). Participatory and social media to engage youth: from the Obama campaign to public health practice. Ethnicity & Disease, 21(301), S1-94-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22352086

Keating, A., & Melis, G. (2017). Social media and youth politcal engagement: preaching to the converted or providing a new voice for youth? British Journal of Political & International Relations, 19(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117718461

Mhlomi, Y., & Osunkunle, O. (2017). Social media and youth political participation in South Africa's 2014 general election. doi: 10.18820/24150525/Comm.v22.12