Social media and the political engagement of young adults: Between mobilization and distraction
- Autor(en)
- Jörg Matthes
- Abstrakt
Purpose: Scholars have expressed great hopes that social media use can foster the democratic engagement of young adults. However, this research has largely ignored non-political, entertainment-oriented uses of social media. In this essay, I theorize that social media use can significantly dampen political engagement because, by and large, young adults use social media primarily for non-political purposes, which distracts rather than mobilizes. Design/methodology/approach: I illustrate this argument using aggregate level data from the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, and Japan by comparing relative voter turnout and social media use data of young adults. Findings: Data suggest a so called Social Media Political Participation paradox in those countries: The gap in voter turnout between young adults and older generations has not significantly decreased, despite a skyrocketing rise of social media use on the side of young adults, and the overwhelming research evidence that social media use fosters offline political participation. Implications: When trying to understand the implications of social media for democracy across the globe, entertainment-oriented content needs to be brought back in. Originality/value: This essay challenges the dominant research paradigm on social media use and political participation. It urges future research to theoretically develop, describe, and empirically test a comprehensive model of how social media use has the potential to mobilize and to distract.
- Organisation(en)
- Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft
- Journal
- Online Media and Global Communication
- Band
- 1
- Seiten
- 6-22
- Anzahl der Seiten
- 17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1515/omgc-2022-0006
- Publikationsdatum
- 2021
- Peer-reviewed
- Ja
- ÖFOS 2012
- 508007 Kommunikationswissenschaft
- Schlagwörter
- ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
- Linguistics and Language
- Link zum Portal
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/94626df1-efe5-4ae2-a707-ec5cc748ae2a