Young Voters and Social Media Research Paper

The first hypothesis, that the majority of youth absorb political information form personal communication and social media networks, is only partially proven. It was surprising that the majority of respondents do not use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to access political information. This runs contrary to many studies on the subject, which were indeed used in the construction of this hypothesis.

Another surprising finding in this regard, but perhaps to be expected in the light of the first, is that the majority of respondents would be unlikely to express their political activism or engagement through social media. If personal communication would therefore be used to express themselves within the political arena, this would be in "real time," in face-to-face conversation with family and friends.

Another interesting finding is that, while the majority of respondents were moderately interested in politics and voting, the majority were also at a low level of any other political engagement.In other words, few respondents expressed interest in political activity such as volunteering. Those who did express their interest in this type of intensified political activity would participate on the basis of ballot measures rather than specific politicians.

In summary, the findings suggest that the second hypothesis, relating to the type of media providing access to political information, was generally sound and could be supported by the survey data. On the other hand, it appears that few personal communications surrounding politics tend to occur via media such as Facebook and Twitter. More investigation will reveal the dynamic behind this….....