IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Resumen

Political1participation is a desired quality1among youths in any democracy. Different
independent researches have1indicated that usage of Social Media among rural youths leads
to the creation of higher political knowledge, political1efficacy, civic engagement, & political
participation. Studies have also indicated to political knowledge, 1political efficacy and
civic1engagement augmenting political participation. The present1study intends to explore
the relationship between social media and rural youths and examine it further in the light of
the intervening variable rural politics. The political parties and their youth wings, in general,
hold the view that youths of rural and urban are adults – and enjoy, under universal adult
franchise, the right to vote for candidates of their choice in parliamentary, assembly and other
polls. As citizens, they have the right to belong to the political party of their choice. In this
study a survey was conducted to know the political discourse in social media and its impact
on the participation of youth in Uttar Pradesh. The primary data was collected through the
convenience sampling. The respondents were provided the URL to access and response
accordingly. There were 500 youth participants between the age from 16 to 28 years who
participated in the survey in Meerut region, the district of Uttar Pradesh.