Young People, Digital Media, and Engagement: A Meta-Analysis of Research

Abstract

New technologies raise fears in public discourse. In terms of digital media use and youth, the advice has been to monitor and limit access to minimize the negative impacts. However, this advice would also limit the positive impacts of digital media. One such positive impact is increased engagement in civic and political life. This article uses meta-analysis techniques to summarize the findings from 106 survey-based studies (965 coefficients) about youth, digital media use, and engagement in civic and political life. In this body of research, there is little evidence to suggest that digital media use is having dire impacts on youth’s engagement. We find that the positive impacts depend on directly political uses of digital media, such as blogging, reading online news, and online political discussion. These online activities have off-line consequences on participation, such as contacting officials, talking politics, volunteering, and protesting. We also find a very strong relationship between online political activities, such as joining political groups and signing petitions, with off-line political activities, which undermine claims of slacktivism among youth. Finally, while research generally assumes a causal flow from digital media to participation, the evidence for the alternative causal flow is strong and has very different implications on interventions designed to address youth’s levels of engagement in civic and political life.

Social Networks’ Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: Health Media vs. Healthcare Professionals

“…Without a doubt, one of the limitations of the study was the size of the sample, a recurring feature of research studies conducted with virtual ethnography for measuring a scientifically-slippery term such as engagement [ 12 , 16 ]. Nevertheless, the study presented here is a significant contribution to the area of communication, due to its specific empirical evidence, a snapshot of how the hegemony of the traditional media in the crisis information discourse was profoundly transformed by the phenomenon of social networks, and how this transformation was accelerated due to a health crisis [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. The concept of prosumer is established from a social audience [ 39 ], leaving behind the passivity of the masses who expectantly consume the media content.…”

“…The participation of citizens in digital media as equals, and the creation of an interconnected global dialogue, have provided a growing importance to these digital Agoras. It has shifted the formal communicative discourse, as shown in recent studies conducted in different spheres such as politics, where the participation of the young is strengthened thanks to their participation in social networks [ 11 ], as well as the areas of education [ 12 ], social life, and leisure [ 13 , 14 ], but also in the area of health [ 15 ]. The study presented aims to analyze and describe how citizens can actually have an impact that is equal to traditional media in social networks in the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Social media design for youth political expression: Testing the roles of identifiability and geo-boundedness

“…While this study focuses on young Americans of voting age (18–24 years), research on a wider range of youth has established a consistent link between political use of social media and further engagement in politics (Boulianne and Theocharis, 2018). In particular, political expression on social media can facilitate collective meaning-making and help young people develop their political identities (Literat and Kligler-Vilenchik, 2019; Zuckerman, 2014).…”

“…Young people are often cast as innovators in political life, adapting to social, technological, and political disruption by inventing new repertories of creative political engagement (van Deth & Theocharis, 2017). As research on youth politics in digital spaces has matured (see Boulianne and Theocharis, 2018), so too has our theoretical understanding of the causes and consequences of young people’s political expression on social media. Expressive acts on social media sites can help young people exert voice and influence and in some cases lead to deeper engagement in the political process (Allen and Light, 2015; Lane and Dal, 2018; Zuckerman, 2014).…”

The Influence of Digital Communications on Political Participation

“…Отдельные онлайн-действия, такие как общение с должностными лицами, политические заявления, волонтерские акции и протесты, имеют самостоятельное значение. Исследователи обнаружили также тесную связь между политическими действиями в Интернете (такими как присоединение к политическим группам и подписание петиций) и офлайн, которые подрывают представления о пассивности молодежи [38].…”