Social media and youth political engagement: Preaching to the converted or providing a new voice for youth?
| Author | Gabriella Melis,Avril Keating |
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1369148117718461 |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
718461BPI0010.1177/1369148117718461The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsKeating and Melis
research-article2017
Article
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
Social media and youth political
2017, Vol. 19(4) 877 –894
© The Author(s) 2017
engagement: Preaching to the
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DOI: 10.1177/1369148117718461
voice for youth?
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Avril Keating and Gabriella Melis
Abstract
Amidst concern about declining youth political engagement, it is often suggested that social media
can provide a solution to this challenge. In this article, however, we argue that these online tools
have not thus far mobilised a new audience to become engaged in either institution-oriented
activities or political expression. Instead, we found that some young people are far more engaged
in using social media for political purposes than others, and that a substantial proportion of
young adults never use social media for this purpose. Using latent class analysis (LCA) of a unique
web survey of young Britons aged 22–29, we show that the principal driver of online political
engagement is political interest (even after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics). On
this basis, we conclude that social media may be providing a new outlet for some young adults; it
is not re-engaging the young adults who have already lost interest in politics.
Keywords
civic engagement, political engagement, social media, youth
Introduction
Amidst concern about declining youth political engagement, it is often suggested that
social media can provide a solution to this challenge. In these debates, social media are
seen to serve two functions. First, social media can provide a new medium of communi-
cation through which established political institutions and actors can reach out to young
citizens. Alternatively, young citizens are using social media to redefine political engage-
ment by finding new ways to express their political preferences outside of the confines of
traditional political engagement (e.g. voting or joining a political party). In support of the
latter argument, proponents point to the prominent (and often highly effective) use of
social media in protest activities such as the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and the
‘Indignados’ in Spain and Greece (see Theocharis et al., 2015). The political potential of
LLAKES Centre, University College London, London, UK
Corresponding author:
Avril Keating, LLAKES Research Centre, University College London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL,
UK.
Email: a.keating@ucl.ac.uk
878
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 19(4)
this technology revolution has prompted a flurry of academic studies, but this remains a
nascent research area—theoretically, methodically and empirically (see Boulianne, 2015;
Gibson and Cantijoch, 2013; Xenos et al., 2014).
This article seeks to contribute to this literature by looking beyond the recent high-
profile protests and examining the extent to which young adults are using social media for
more ‘routine’ types of political engagement (such as political discussion or joining/fol-
lowing campaigns). Although it assumed that online political engagement is being led by
young adults, studies that focus specifically on youth populations are still relatively rare
and/or based on university students (Kim and Amna, 2015; Xenos et al., 2014). Young
adults also tend to be treated as a homogenous group compared to older groups, and the
differences within this age group are often overlooked. This article will therefore examine
whether some young adults are more highly engaged in this medium than others, and if
so, what the predictors of this differential online engagement are.
To examine these questions, we use latent class analysis (LCA) of online survey data
collected from a sample of 22- to 29-year-olds in Britain. Britain is an ideal case in which
to examine these themes because young people in Britain exhibit comparatively low levels
of turnout for elections, but high levels of engagement in social media (Xenos et al.,
2014). This combination has led some to suggest that social media could be harnessed to
increase youth political engagement (online and offline). However, we find that social
media use for political engagement is far from universal or uniform among British youth;
some young adults more highly engaged than others, and a substantial proportion of
young adults are not using social media for any type of political engagement (be it to
engage with politicians, promote causes, or discuss political issues). Following on from
this, we then use conditional LCA (within a structural equation modelling (SEM) frame-
work) to examine why some young adults are more or less likely to engage than others.
We focus in particular on socio-demographic characteristics, which previous studies have
suggested are predictors of political engagement in general, as well as political engage-
ment online (Schlozman et al., 2012; Verba et al., 1995). What our analysis suggests,
however, is that young adults’ participation in online political engagement is driven by
their political interest rather than their socio-demographic characteristics. As political
interest is still being formed during adolescence and early adulthood, we suggest that
future studies should focus on the evolution (and stratification) of political interest during
this formative period, rather than on the contemporary socio-demographic characteristics
of young adults.
Political engagement and the Internet: A digital revolution
or perpetuating the social divide?
Recent research on youth political participation has been a microcosm for a larger debate
about the evolution of political engagement in the post-industrial era. It is clear that pub-
lic participation in the traditional forms of democratic engagement (such as voting, join-
ing political parties, and trade unions) has declined in many developed countries, but the
consequences of this are contested. On the one hand, some have expressed deep concern
that these developments constitute a devastating blow to our democratic institutions (see,
for example, Putnam, 2000). Yet others take a more positive view and argue that rather
than declining, democracy is being transformed, and that citizens are looking beyond the
established political institutions to find new and creative ways to express their political
preferences and to achieve their civic and political goals (Dalton, 2008; Norris, 2002).
Keating and Melis
879
What counts as an ‘non-institutional’ or expressive form of political engagement contin-
ues to be debated, but commonly cited examples include protests, petitions, boycotts and,
more recently, online modes of engagement (such as social media campaigns) (Campbell,
2009: 778; Zukin et al., 2006: 57–58).
The technological revolution wrought by the Internet has played a central role in pro-
liferating these new types of political action and expression. For one, the rapid and on-
going development of the Internet has transformed the speed and ease of communication
and information flows. This has had a knock-on effect on political engagement in several
key ways. First, the Internet has increased access to information, thus lowering the cost of
(and resources required for) acquiring political information (Schlozman et al., 2012:
487). Second, the range of information available has been diversified and ‘democratised’.
The number of news sites and commenters has multiplied, which in turn has increased the
number of different viewpoints available to citizens. Information can now be shared rap-
idly, widely and easily by anyone, and as a result, friends, family and peers are becoming
the curators of news and information, and we are no longer (as) reliant on institutionalised
(national) media or political parties for political information (Bimber, 2012; Norris and
Inglehart, 2009). Third, it has become increasingly easy for individuals to become the
creators of web content and not just passive consumers. Through blogs, social media
sites, comment forums and the like, individuals can locate like-minded individuals, con-
vey their own message(s) and become directly and actively involved in their fields of
interest, should they wish to (Ekström and Östman, 2015). The benefits of this technology
are not limited to the political realm, but it means, for example, that individuals can easily
and cheaply start a website or petition about a political issue that is important to them,
and circulate it widely not only among their friend-group, but also far beyond.
Finally, even when individuals do not wish to become a content creator, it has been
suggested that the online sphere can still boost political engagement. The central premise
of this argument is that social media can increase an individual’s exposure to political
information and social mobilisation when friends and family post links to news stories or
express political opinions. This can, in turn, trigger political interest, political informa-
tion-seeking and/or social pressure to become engaged in political acts and/or political
discussions (Theocharis and Quintelier, 2014). For example, a randomised-control trial in
the United States found that Facebook users were more likely to vote and more likely to
seek out voting-related...
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