We examine the association between social media use and youth protest, as well as mediating and moderating mechanisms of this relationship, using survey data collected in Chile in 2010. We found that Facebook use was associated significantly with protest activity, even after taking into account political grievances, material and psychological resources, values, and news media use. The link between overall Facebook use and protest activity was explained by using the social network for news and socializing rather than when it was used for self-expression. Postmaterialist values and political ideologies were not found to moderate the association between Facebook use and protest.
Protest activity has become a central means for political change in Chile. The paper examines the association between social media use and youth protest, as well as mediating and moderating mechanisms of this relationship, using survey data collected in Chile in 2010. It is found that Facebook use was associated significantly with protest activity, even after taking into account political grievances, material and psychological resources, values, and news media use.
The link between overall Facebook use and protest activity was explained by using the social network for news and socializing rather than when it was used for self‐expression. Post-materialist values and political ideologies were not found to moderate the association between Facebook use and protest.
The study examines the possible impact of various types of digital media and social networks on the political and civic engagement of young people in Russia. The use of social and digital media has probably changed the way people interact and participate in various civic and political protests, especially among young people. Despite the large number of studies on youth participation in the protests and the role of digital technologies, there is still a knowledge gap. Some studies emphasize that the impact of social media has minor and indirect effects on the actual participation of young people in protests, but there are those who refute this fact, but there are not enough articles in scientific practice that look at the impact of both mass media and social media on the process of shaping attitudes directly towards a particular protest and the subsequent participation of young people in offline activities. The purpose of this work is to establish the specificity and role of traditional and new media in shaping the perception of the protest action against the construction of the Shies landfill among the participants and non-members of the protests. The design of the study consists of in-depth interviews and public opinion polls. The results will complement the knowledge about media use during long-term protests.
In addition, the work investigates the regional specifics of media consumption by youth. Key words protest, youth, digital media, social and network.
According to a report released in 2021 by Common Sense Media on social media’s effects on teens, about half of the 1,500 young people surveyed said social media is very important for them in order to get support and advice, feel less alone, and express themselves creatively, as well as for staying in touch friends and family while social distancing and 43 percent said that using social media makes them feel better when they are depressed, stressed, or anxious. Among LGBTQ youth, 52 percent said social media helps them feel better when they are experiencing these difficult emotions.
Some researchers suggest that cultural shifts towards post-materialist values explain part of the aforementioned changes, whereby political activities in modern Western societies need to offer an expression of social identity in order to attract participants (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 2002, Bennett 2012, 2013, Copeland 2014; Inglehart and Welzel 2005, Norris 2002, Stolle, Hooghe, and Micheletti 2005). Moreover, some research suggests that social pressure could be a strong explanatory factor when it comes to participation in protest activities. More specifically, the pressure to conform to social groups and their norms due to belongingness needs seem to predict individuals’ likelihood of taking part in protest activities. Relatedly, research has shown that social ties are important in the formation of younger people’s political interest as well as being crucial to younger people’s mobilization to protest activities.
As institutional forms of political engagement continue to decline, participation in protests steadily become more common. These trends are particularly strong among younger citizens. Previous research indicates that social factors can explain participation in political protests, and that younger citizens’ participation in protests is more affected by social ties than older people’s participation. Even though the desire for social affiliation is a fundamental human need, there are individual differences in the need for belongingness. The aim of the current study is to investigate if part of younger people’s higher level of participation in protests can be explained by individual-level differences in belongingness needs. More specifically, the study investigates whether a larger part of younger people’s participation is explained by need to belong (NTB), as compared to older people’s participation. In line with the hypothesis, results from a survey study of a representative sample of the Swedish population (N = 2034), show that only younger people’s participation is predicted by individual-level belongingness needs; the higher the NTB among young people, the higher the tendency to protest, while this effect is absent among older people. These results have important implications for our understanding of participation.
The majority of the findings was in agreement with my hypothesis, the online social media was producing psychologically negative results. Much of the research found that children who use social media are more likely to engage in self harm, become victims of bullying and depression.
Protest activities constitute a political category of their own, distinct from more conventional forms of engagement, such as party activity or voting (Back, Teorell, and Westholm 2011). They consist of a wide range of activities from signing online petitions and peaceful demonstrations, to violent riots, and seem to become more common as compared to the more conventional forms of political activities. Different types of political engagement may be differentially motivated, and there is reason to suspect that protest activities in particular may be socially motivated. In contrast to voting, which is not publically displayed, many protest activities are performed such that they are in full view of others. Participating in demonstrations, or wearing a badge with a political message, allow observers to draw inferences of the participant. Hence, such acts are in themselves social.
The survey consisted of questions regarding political activism, use of social media, personality, and demographics. Its front page had a short presentation of the survey and its purpose, as well as an informed consent, and a clear statement of participants’ anonymity and their right to end their participation at any time. Participants were also informed that data would be analysed on a group-level, and for research purposes only.
The aim of the current study was to investigate if part of younger people’s over-representation in protest activities could be explained by social incentives. In line with our hypotheses, we found that younger people’s participation in protest activities was predicted by need to belong. It is suggested here that social incentives to participate may consist of peer-pressure, and motives of self-actualization common in individualistic cultures. We welcome future expansions of our findings, including studies using other psychological constructs aimed to measure social incentives, preferably conducted Many experts believe that the constant overstimulation of social networking shifts the nervous system into fight-or-flight mode. As a result, this makes disorders such as ADHD, teen depression, oppositional defiant disorder.
Finally, some research on social media and teen depression shows that the causality goes the other way. When teens are depressed, they look at social media more often. In one of 600 teens, researchers found that social media use did not predict depressive symptoms, but greater depressive symptoms predicted more social media use over time. non-western societies. We believe that this is an important contribution to the literature on predictors of protest participation in general, and youth mobilization in particular.
By: Hammal Zahid
The author is a Turbat-based freelance contributor and he writes letters, articles, blogs, references and stories. He can be reached at hammalzahid9@gmail.com