Clicks to Campaigns: The Social Media Exposures on College Students’ Political Engagement

Abstract

The rise of social media has significantly altered how information is shared and consumed, leading to questions about its impact on various aspects of life, particularly in relation to political engagement. Social media has emerged as a powerful tool in modern society, shaping opinions, spreading information, influencing behaviors, and driving discussions on critical issues, including political awareness and active civic engagement worldwide. This investigation seeks to elucidate the connection between social media exposure and political engagement, while evaluating its significance in modern society. The study comprised 300 participants, including first to fourth-year students. This study employs a quantitative approach and adopts a descriptive-correlational design. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test indicated a deviation from normal distribution in the data. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) showed a moderate positive correlation between social media use and political participation among the 300 participants (r = 0.472, p < 0.001). Students reported high social media use (M = 3.46, SD = 0.53), but relatively low political engagement (M = 2.51, SD = 0.724). Linear regression analysis confirmed social media use as a significant predictor of political participation (B = 0.724, p < 0.001), suggesting a positive relationship. This indicates that higher social media use may be associated with greater political involvement, despite the overall low level of engagement.