The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Awareness among Youth

Abstract

Social media is one of the most salient venues in which youth are increasingly accessing political information, engaging with public issues and voicing political opinions. Based on the secondary data collected from Data Reportal, ECI and scholarly research, this paper looks at how social media has influenced political awareness among youth in India. It first discusses the notions of political awareness and networked communication, then explores the development of the use of the internet and social media, the political uses of the large platforms and the role of the young in the electorate. The paper maintains that social media creates more opportunities to access political information, reduces the cost of expression and mobilisation, and provides young citizens with a voice that was frequently not provided by traditional media. Meanwhile, it exposes them to misinformation, echo chambers, polarisation and hostility online, and the advantages are not shared equally due to the digital divide. At the end of the paper, the authors contend that social media should be regarded as a facilitator and not a tool for political education, and that the development of media literacy, platform accountability, and inclusive digital access are key elements to enable social media engagement to be informed participation.