scholarly journals “I don’t like it and I think it’s useless, people discussing politics on Facebook”: Young Swedes’ understandings of social media use for political discussion

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malin Sveningsson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Western Democracies

Western democracies have seen a decrease in political participation, with young people singled out as the most problematic group. But young people are also the most avid users of online media. It has therefore been argued that online media could be used to evoke their interest in politics, and thus contribute to the reinvigoration of democratic citizenship. Using a mixed qualitative methods approach, this article takes a closer look at 26 young Swedes’ experiences and understandings of social media, especially Twitter and Facebook, as used for political discussions. Compared to the average Swedish 17 to 18-year-olds, the participants are relatively interested in civic and political questions. By focusing on this segment, the article mirrors the experiences of an understudied group – young people who are interested in politics but not engaged. The participants were skeptical about social media as used in relation to politics, and expressed doubts about their suitability and usefulness. Four themes were identified, where three have to do with perceived risks: for conflict, misunderstandings and deceit. The participants also expressed the idea of online political activities as being less authentic than their offline equivalents. The idea that young people want and expect something that political organizations cannot live up to is one of the most dominant discourses that characterize the discussion on youth political participation today. However, while some properties of social media fit well into what young people have been found to prefer, for the participants, negative traits seem to outweigh the positive ones, thus discouraging them from participating.

scholarly journals Deliberation or Self-presentation?: Young People, Politics and Social Media

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Storsul
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Deliberation ◽  
Group Interviews

Abstract This article presents a study of how politically engaged young people use social media for political purposes. There has been a growing optimism that social media can stimulate political participation and deliberation, especially among young people. Based on focus group interviews with Norwegian teenagers, the article argues that social media have become an important platform for young people to participate in political activities. Whether the purpose is internal meetings or external mobilization, social media provide platforms for planning, reporting and communicating political activities. At the same time, politically engaged young people are hesitant about using social media for political deliberation. They are concerned about how they present themselves, and they are reluctant to stand out as highly political. One important explanation for this is that social media integrate different forms of communication and collapse social contexts. This causes teenagers to delimit controversies and try to keep political discussions to groups with more segregated audiences.

scholarly journals Young Political Activists in the Ural Region: are there Political Career Opportunities or Prospects for Social Changes?

2021 ◽  
pp. 198-209
Author(s):  
Yana Didkovskaya ◽  
Dmitriy Trynov
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
High Standard ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Political Activities

The paper provides the study outcomes with respect to the political activism process by young people as illustrated by the comparative analysis of campaigns by young activists of pro-governmental and opposition political organizations of the Urals Federal District. The conclusions made by the authors are based on the results of the quantitative survey of activists from the pro-governmental youth socio-political organizations (N = 304) and non-systematic opposition activists (N = 298), as well as on informal interviews with young representatives of political parties and movements (22 interviews). According to the findings, the crucial role in motivating the political participation of young activists is played by value-based sociocentric attitudes: a sense of civic responsibility and a strive for a more equitable society. Pragmatic attitudes towards career and self-fulfilment in the socio-political sphere are of less importance. Negative social well-being is typical for both groups of respondents, but it is stronger among opposition-minded young people and is the major motivator for them to be engaged with politics. The significant differences between the pro-government and opposition activists in the course of their political self-identification have been identified: pro-government activists are characterized by the vague and indefinite ideological views, while the ideological orientation of opposition youth is more clearly defined and focused mainly on liberalism. The common characteristic of the idea regarding the ideal social structure for both groups of activists is a high standard of living. However, pro-government and opposition activists significantly differ in their views regarding other ideas about the social ideal: opposition-minded young people put a greater focus on the role of information technologies, the market economy, tolerance for minorities, and humanism, while pro-government activists much more often refer to the significance of a strong government and the country’s international credibility. These differences in ideas regarding the goals of political participation on the background of the negative social well-being of varying degrees determine the choice of relevant forms of political activities by young people.

scholarly journals Gaali cultures: The politics of abusive exchange on social media

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1506-1522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahana Udupa
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Online Abuse ◽  
New Media Studies

On the rapidly expanding social media in India, online users are witness to a routine exchange of abusive terms and accusations with choicest swearwords hurled even for the seemingly non-inflammatory political debates. This article draws upon anthropology of insult to uncover the distinctness, if at all, of online abuse as a means for political participation as well as for the encumbering it provokes and relations of domination it reproduces as a result. In so doing, the article critiques the conception of ludic as anti-hegemonic in the Bakhtin tradition, and develops an emic term “gaali” to signal the blurred boundaries between comedy, insult, shame, and abuse emerging on online media, which also incite gendered forms of intimidation. Gaali, it argues, is best conceptualized through the metaphor of “sound” as distinct from what recent new media studies theorize as “voice.”

We Face, I Tweet: How Different Social Media Influence Political Participation through Collective and Internal Efficacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 320-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Halpern ◽  
Sebastián Valenzuela ◽  
James E. Katz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Network Ties ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Efficacy Measures

This study advances a theoretical model centered on collective and internal efficacy to explain the separate pathways through which political sharing on Facebook and Twitter may influence individuals to engage in political activities. We test the model with data from a 2-wave panel survey conducted with an adult population in 2013 in Chile. We found that frequent usage of Facebook and Twitter for sharing political information is conducive to higher levels of participation through different efficacy measures. Facebook has a significant effect on collective—not internal—efficacy, whereas Twitter's effect is on internal—not collective—efficacy. Results are discussed in light of the diverse affordances and strengths of network ties of Facebook and Twitter.

scholarly journals Youth Political Participation in Russia: Influence of Voluntary Associations

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (9S3) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Country Factors ◽  
Monitoring Survey ◽  
Data Source ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Specific Country

Studying the reasons for youth political participation, and how young people get involved in political activities is an important issue for both developed and developing countries. Research in this area started from general tendencies and then moved to specific country factors. The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship, in Russia, between participation in voluntary associations during education and political participation during adulthood. Previously, there was no research in this field for Russia. In the research non-parametric tests for K independent samples, descriptive statistics, logistical regression, and factor analysis were applied. The main data source is the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. The key result is that involvement in voluntary associations during education, especially in political ones, positively affects future youth political participation. Education and income also have positive effects. Russia is generally similar to other countries, including developed, developing, and post-soviet ones. In post-soviet countries, the key interdependencies are similar to Russia, but not so clearly expressed. In Russia, employed young people vote with less probability than unemployed ones, whereas in Belarus we see the opposite.

scholarly journals Social Media and Youth Political Participation at the Time of Political Polarization: A Study on University Students in Indonesia during the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
. Wahyutama
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Conversation

<p>Some studies theorized social media as fostering youth political participation by facilitating the development of online participatory cultures (Jenkins, 2009). Online participatory cultures provide young citizens with opportunities to discuss and gain information about political topics, create capacity for action by promoting digital skills and norms for group interaction, and facilitate recruitment into civic and political life (Kahne et al., 2013). Against the backdrop of this discourse, this research aims to investigate social media and youth political participation in Indonesia’s context.  This project’s research questions ask: How politics is experienced by Indonesian youth and how social media is used by them to engage with political activities? To answer those questions, this research conducted a survey (n=265) and interviews (n=29) with students from three universities in Jakarta. This research adopted grounded theory approach in analysing the data.  This research revealed that social media in general provides affordances for youth to engage with activities related to political conversation and social-political campaign (as indicated by the findings that social media attracts more numbers of youth participating in these two categories of activity). Thus, this research in part support propositions advocated by the thesis of online participatory cultures that social media facilitates youth political participation.  However, under the specific context of ethnic and religious-based political polarization which happened during this research, this research also revealed that the salient form of social media use by youth is in fact monitoring political conversation. This activity is driven by the sense of “kepo” (the drive to asses how others are thinking, feeling, and responding to certain political issues) and has the effect on youth’s fear of social isolation (in the form of fear of breaking relationship with others). Eventually, this activity leads youth to the act of silence (in the form of refraining political expression on social media). In this case, this research (unintentionally) confirm the theory of spiral of silence proposed by Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann (1984).  Finally, this research contributes to the academic discourse by providing a critical insight into the way social media could lead its users to the process of spiral of silence i.e. by exacerbating the fear of social isolation obtained from the activity of social surveillance (in the form of monitoring political conversation).</p>

scholarly journals Social Media and Youth Political Participation at the Time of Political Polarization: A Study on University Students in Indonesia during the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
. Wahyutama
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Conversation

<p>Some studies theorized social media as fostering youth political participation by facilitating the development of online participatory cultures (Jenkins, 2009). Online participatory cultures provide young citizens with opportunities to discuss and gain information about political topics, create capacity for action by promoting digital skills and norms for group interaction, and facilitate recruitment into civic and political life (Kahne et al., 2013). Against the backdrop of this discourse, this research aims to investigate social media and youth political participation in Indonesia’s context.  This project’s research questions ask: How politics is experienced by Indonesian youth and how social media is used by them to engage with political activities? To answer those questions, this research conducted a survey (n=265) and interviews (n=29) with students from three universities in Jakarta. This research adopted grounded theory approach in analysing the data.  This research revealed that social media in general provides affordances for youth to engage with activities related to political conversation and social-political campaign (as indicated by the findings that social media attracts more numbers of youth participating in these two categories of activity). Thus, this research in part support propositions advocated by the thesis of online participatory cultures that social media facilitates youth political participation.  However, under the specific context of ethnic and religious-based political polarization which happened during this research, this research also revealed that the salient form of social media use by youth is in fact monitoring political conversation. This activity is driven by the sense of “kepo” (the drive to asses how others are thinking, feeling, and responding to certain political issues) and has the effect on youth’s fear of social isolation (in the form of fear of breaking relationship with others). Eventually, this activity leads youth to the act of silence (in the form of refraining political expression on social media). In this case, this research (unintentionally) confirm the theory of spiral of silence proposed by Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann (1984).  Finally, this research contributes to the academic discourse by providing a critical insight into the way social media could lead its users to the process of spiral of silence i.e. by exacerbating the fear of social isolation obtained from the activity of social surveillance (in the form of monitoring political conversation).</p>

The Future of Healthcare

2016 ◽  
pp. 1519-1536
Author(s):  
Christine Vandenhouten ◽  
Susan Gallagher-Lepak ◽  
Derryl E. Block ◽  
Sylvia May Kubsch ◽  
Jan Strom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Access And Quality ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
New Policies

The U.S. healthcare environment is undergoing rapid change. New policies have reshaped healthcare through reimbursement models focused on access and quality. Advocating for policies that improve population health is important for health professionals and students. For this reason, educators need to know how to prepare students to be active in the political process. Using the Civic Volunteerism Model, factors influencing nursing and public health students' political participation were examined. Both groups had relatively low levels of political participation and differences in types of political activities. The best predictor of political participation was found to be psychological engagement (e.g., political efficacy, partisanship, political interest). Students were more politically active if they attended school part-time, employed more than part-time, and were non-traditional students. Suggested educational strategies and use of social media were discussed. Further exploration of social media as a source of political information and recruitment is recommended.

Perceptual processes and political participation: Do the presumed reach and the presumed influence of social media affect political activities via Facebook and Twitter?

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uli Bernhard ◽  
Marco Dohle
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Circle Of Friends

Abstract The perception that many other people are being reached and affected by political communication can be a reason for intensifying one’s own communication activities. An online survey among German citizens (n = 2,957) was carried out to determine whether this is also true for political communication activities via social media. Results show that the presumed reach and the presumed influence of Facebook and Twitter with regard to the individual’s circle of friends/acquaintances affect the intensity of online communication. However, perceptions concerning the population in general are not relevant. This indicates that individuals primarily address their own social environment with their political social networking practices. Thus, by concentrating on perceptual processes, the findings contribute to shedding light on the causes and motives for political communication activities in the social media world.

scholarly journals Young People and Political Participation: An Analysis of European Union Policies

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Young Women ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Face ◽  
Political Act

There is now widespread recognition that, far from being politically apathetic, young people across Europe are engaged in a wide range of ‘political’ activities. While turnout at national and European elections among the 18-25 age group may be low, researchers have highlighted diverse and creative new forms of political participation. In relation to young women, in particular, Harris (2005) has presented a compelling analysis of the new ‘borderspaces’ opened up between public and private domains by young women through the use of new technologies. She contends that in the face of greater surveillance and regulation brought about by the shift to neo-liberal forms of governmentality, carving out a protected space for oneself is a political act, in itself. Moreover, the creative ways in which young women across the world use such spaces – to question dominant narratives about the nature of contemporary girlhood, to resist discourses which construct young women as merely passive consumers, and to trouble conventional notions of ‘youth participation’ – are highly political. Some EU representatives have indicated an awareness of these new forms of engagement and professed a desire to develop links between them and more traditional forms of party politics and policy making (Hoskins, 2005). Nevertheless, the degree to which these sentiments have been translated into policy remains unclear. This article draws on recent documents on young people, citizenship and political participation to assess the extent to which these new spaces of young women's politics are, firstly, recognised and, secondly, valued within EU policy.

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