Social media and urban educated youth’s participation in politics in Kenya

Abstract

More than 60% of Kenya’s population is under 24 years out of which those (18-24 years) account for a significant percentage of eligible voters, accounting for at 30%. However, this important demographic does not participate in politics effectively despite their numerical strength due to lack of appropriate institutionalized communication platforms, hence face alienation/marginalization from mainstream politics. The advent of the interactive, participative and collaborative social media occasioned by web 2.0 innovations could therefore, be the alternative platform to engage the youth in politics. This study sought to determine the relationship between how youth use social media and their participation in politics in Kenya by critically analyzing the extent to which social media use impacts on both institutional and extra-institutional political participation. This could contribute to further understanding of the shifting dynamics in youth political communications enabled by advancements in ICTs and the subsequent implication on “offline” political participation, which is a key driver for development of democracy, and social policy reforms in Kenya. Drawing from the Media Ecology Communication Theory, structured questionnaires and Focus Group Discussions were used to collect data from undergraduate students aged 18-24 years. Using mixed methods, the study collected and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data using descriptions, descriptive and inferential statistics mainly simple linear regression. The findings revealed a positive relationship between how the youth use social media, specifically Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Political blogs and their participation in politics. It also emerged that a clear majority of young people are asking for more opportunities to have a say in the way their political systems are governed. The increased communicative spaces on social media for youth political participation may therefore, serve to promote a sense of nationhood and development of democracy. Consequently, promoting youth participation in politics through institutionalized use of social media may foster a sense of citizenship and make policy processes more transparent and accountable to them. This may further contribute to addressing issues of youth radicalization, hate speech and ethnicity, thus mitigate post- election violence and contribute to security, building national cohesion and integration in Kenya.