Social Media and Political Participation Among Young Citizens

Abstract

Social media has become an important space for political communication and participation among young citizens. Platforms such as social networking sites, video-sharing services, and messaging applications allow young people to access political information, express opinions, discuss public issues, organize campaigns, and engage with elected representatives and civic organizations. At the same time, social media can expose users to misinformation, polarization, harassment, manipulation, and unequal access to reliable information. This paper examines nine major dimensions of social media and political participation among young citizens, including political information, online expression, civic mobilization, electoral engagement, digital citizenship, political discussion, inclusion, risks, and future prospects.