Journal Article

Social Media Platforms and Political Participation: A Study of Jordanian Youth Engagement

Alodat, Abdelsalam M., Al-Qora’n, Lamis F., Abu Hamoud, Muwafaq

2023

Overview

The wide adoption of social media platforms has altered how people communicate, obtain information, and participate in society. Regarding political participation, social media has emerged as a novel venue for people to voice their opinions, connect with others who share their viewpoints, and engage in activism. As a result, knowing the effect of social media on political participation is critical, particularly in developing nations like Jordan. This research investigates the moderating effect of certain factors on the impact of social media on political involvement among Jordanian youth. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach is used to analyze data from a survey of 334 young people. The findings show that social media has a favorable and considerable impact on political participation. Gender was also discovered to have a strong moderating effect on the relationship between social media use and political participation. According to the analysis, gender positively moderates the effect of the frequency of social media use on political participation, while gender negatively moderates the effect of the purpose of social media usage on political participation. The study sheds light on the significance of social media in young people’s political participation in Jordan, emphasizing the need of taking differences in gender into account when developing effective tactics to engage young people in the political processes.

• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Subject: Activism / Apathy / Attitudes / Debates / Decision making / Democracy / Demonstrations & protests / Developing countries / Digital technology / Engagement (Philosophy) / Gender / Gender differences / Information society / Jordan / Language usage / LDCs / Mass media / Mass media effects / Participation / PLS-SEM / Political activity / Political aspects / Political behavior / Political participation / Political parties / Political systems / Politics / Social aspects / Social media / social media platforms / Social networks / Social participation / Structural equation modeling / Tactics / Technology application / Teenagers / Youth