The Role of Social Media in Influencing Youth Political Behavior: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This study systematically reviewed the works which investigated the relationship between social media and youth political behavior emphasizing on how it may influence their political participation. The systematic review included 30 out of 2,037 articles, and the majority of youth who became followers of politicians on social media, had a positive effect on youth involvement in politics, such as participating in protests through online petitions. Ten of the studies showed a positive relationship between youth political behavior and political discussion. Most articles were removed since the age exceeded the youth age and unrelated to the study. The analysis revealed four effect of social media youth political behavior; the ability to follow politicians, the freedom to express opinions online, online political communications, and the abundance of information. This study suggests the government to mandate the politicians utilize social media for public discourse since it effectively gains youth perspective, concerns and aspirations.