Youth’s Political Uses of Social Network Media

Abstract

The Internet and other new media go often together when we talk about new forms of involvement among young people. Many commentators have highlighted the role of social networks during the Arab spring, for example. New organizational tools, new conceptions of democracy: social networks and the Internet have certainly modified the political arena. If it is too early to measure how deep those changes are, we can investigate their actual influence in the mobilizations of the new generations. Three hypotheses can be drawn - certainly complementary, but sometimes divergent: are social networks and the Internet just an additional tool for the organisation? do they fundamentally change the nature of the organization? or do they really lead to a new type of commitment towards politics? Do today’s youth, socialized with those new tools, develop different expectations towards democracy or politics in general? Are activists’ expectations reflected widely among the youth? Those are some questions at the centre of this panel.

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