New Media Techologies and Democracy: The influence of Social Networking Sites on Political Attitudes and Behaviour among the Urban Youth in Kenya
Abstract
The study sought to investigate the influence of social networking sites on political
participation and civic engagement among the Kenyan urban youth. Social networking
sites (SNSs) like Facebook and twitter have become important avenues for political
participation
among the youth
showing
great promise for increasing
political interest
and participation among the disengaged youth. They have created a
n easily accessible,
interesting, convenient and rewarding platform for young people to be engaged in
political discourse.
Different candidates have used social media in
political campaigns with mixed results.
Different studies have also yielded mixed results on
how social network sites influence
political and civic participation.
This
area is clearly in need of theoretical and empirical
examination.
The study broadly
looked at how social media are currently being used in
the political arena in Kenya. More specifically, the study focused on the effects of usage
and reliance on social networking sites on political engagement and democratic
participation among young adults ; the extent to which social networking sites facilitate
political discussions among the urban youth in Kenya; whether reliance on social
networking sites is related to increased civic and political participation and the extent to
which social networking sites influence political attitudes and knowledge among the
urban youth .
The study was guided by Habermas theory of public sphere examining SNS as an
extension of the public sphere facilitating a vibrant discussion of politics online and
facilitating political mobilization of the youth.
A cross
-
sectional survey targeting urban youths was conducted in two Universities in
Nairobi in which 600 questionnaires were administered to the targeted respondents
aged between 18
-
35 through a combination of cluster
and stratified random sampling
techniques. 512 questionnaires were returned dully filled and used for analysis. Focus
group discussions were also conducted with sampled youths from the two universities.
Besides a descriptive analysis of the data, a hierarchical regression analysis was
conducted in which data was analyzed in several blocks to isolate the relationship
between the various variables.
The study found that reliance on social networking sites is positively associated with
political participation
but not civic participation. This influence on political participation
is significant but limited, it adds value but does not radically transform political
engagement. Young people frequently engage in internet based political activities like
blogging, po
sting and distributing campaign information and videos which have a
bearing on political participation. Reliance on social networking sites has an important
though limited role in shaping political opinions and decisions.
The study concluded that SNSs are
important in the political campaigning process,
however, online SNSs campaigns must be utilized together with other campaign
activities and media in complementarity and mutual dependency to supplement offline
campaigns because mobilization of voters must primarily be done offline
Publisher
University of Nairobi