Our voices but different

 

 

“Be the change you would like to see in the world.” This famous quote from Gandhi has been embedded into our society for generations, and the youth have used this quote and adapted to the change they see in their society through social media. The youth are seen as being politically apathetic because of the low rates of voting, with only 64.5% of people aged 18-24 voting in the 2019 general election in contrast to 71.4% of people aged 65 and over (McInnes, 2020) From these statistics show that while the youth voting average is lower, it does not show politically engaged the youth are not politically engaged many of us are still politically engaged through different forms of media which have been advanced within recent years.

 

Political engagement has changed.

 

Social media enables many of us to gain an understanding of what’s affecting our lives; while many may believe that younger voters are not politically engaged, it is quite the opposite; young people have chosen to adapt to the change in technology, which allowed us to stay informed in politics on a more global scale than the older when they were younger. An article discussing young people’s political engagement states. “Young people are increasingly turning to online social media platforms to learn about, engage with, and share information about COVID-19, politics, and social movements like Black Lives Matter” (Booth et al., 2020a). This clearly states how young people are becoming increasingly politically engaged through social media.

 

. Technology has allowed us to develop a political voice.

Due to the advancement in technology young people are conditioned into using social media to express their thoughts; young people have been feeling for many years that the states has failed, such as by not discussing issues that affect them, causing many young people to feel as though they gave no reason to vote because of this the average of younger people lowers every day which creates an ongoing cycle of their voices not being heard and going to social  media to express these thoughts, young people want to be able to inherit a world that benefits them and does not set them up for failure, so issues such as; tuition fees, cost- of – living wages and affordable housing. A journal discusses how young people weaponise social to show their political views. “The Internet has been touted as a channel through which youth may become mobilised into politics and public affairs.” (Baumgartner and Morris, 2010)With social media, young people are able to share their political and reach a wide variety of people.

 

How social media  has allowed us to stay politically aware

 

Social Media gives direct access to political information and is easily accessible. Covid -19 forced many individuals to rely on social media to know what was happening in the world. Social media is global, allowing many young people to know what injustices are going on in the world  such as the George Floyd case of 2020. Social media also allows young peoples to have a  which is not necessarily given by the state; many politicians assume young people are too naïve to understand  politics but many young people feel as though there issues are not being discussed by the state and choose to vocalise their views on social media. The statistics show that social media allows for young people to be politically aware.

 

How Covid -19 changed youth political engagement

When Covid-19 hit, the world was forced to use social media as their own information, constantly watching the news to gain information. COVID-19 forced politics to be prominent in our society, making people more inclined to be politically informed. It also sparked a lot of political activism within the youth population; with the ‘Black Lives Matter “youngsters  remain  very dynamic  operators  of  social  media and the internet. Politics related internet accomplishments remain suitable to teenagers   and   encourage   them   to   engage   in   democratic   activities.(Adanan, M.F et al , 2021) This clearly shows that young people have become politically engaged, which was enhanced by lockdown.

 

Politicians are humanising themselves by using social media to target the younger audience

Politicians have even begun to use the tactic of being on social media to humanise themselves and become more relatable to the broader population. By doing this, politicians can push their agendas the younger and the older population. With social media having a pivotal  role in our lives, Politicians use that to keep young people politically informed in what’s going on in there countries and countries around the world. A journal discussing how politician are using social media to influence their constituents states, “The developing connection between emerging social media and its public and political influence has begun to transform the political process and campaign tactics. (Hellwig, 2011) this clearly perpetuates the notion that politicans are using advancement of technology in their favour  to influence their younger constituent through social allowing to stay politically engaged.

This is our world too.

The youth feel as though we have a social responsibility to be politically engaged as they feel that government refuses to discuss issues that affect them, such as student fees, affordable housing and living wages resorting to many young people choosing to protest through social media while young people may not be going out to vote they are still politically aware. Society youth have adapted to the growing change in technology to voice their views like many generations before. Young people see the environment they are inheriting and want to improve the circumstances before society begins to break more than it already has. An article from the BBC states, “Global data from public-relations and research firm Edelman shows 70% of Gen Zers are involved in a social or political cause.”(Carnegie, 2022). This clearly shows that young people are politically informed but have chosen to do this differently from the older generation. While this may not be having as much effect as it should, it has allowed young people to voice their opinions without being silenced by the state.

 

(Philbrick and Leonhardt, n.d.)

 

What can you do?

The youth want to be the change that they want to see. Society has advanced in so many ways over the last few generations, including what could be considered political participation. The younger generation has chosen to be politically engaged through social media, which allows many other young people to stay informed, however with the low rates of voting for people between the ages 18-24 it deters us from being able to make any real change in society to ensure change is made. So in order to be the change we want to see, the younger generation must use the4 power of social media to encourage each other to vote to allow change to occur. As a young person of this generation, I firmly believe that if I were not to vote, I would be ensuring that I have no decisions in my future.

 

Bibliography

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1. Adnan, M.F., Dalle, J., Malau, H. and Yvanka, V., 2021. The influence of social-media and public policy on public political participation in handling COVID-19 pandemic: A study from Indonesian domestic and overseas youngsters perspective.Croatian International Relations Review, 27(87), pp.133-159. (Accessed 13/02/2023)
2. Baumgartner, J.C. and Morris, J.S. (2010). Social Networking Web Sites and Political Engagement of Young Adults. MyFaceTube Politics, 28(1), p.25. (Accessed 10/02/2023)
3. Booth, R.B., Tombaugh, E., Kiesa, A., Lundberg, K. and Cohen, A. (2020a). Young People Turn to Online Political Engagement During COVID-19. [online] circle.tufts.edu. Available at: https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/young-people-turn-online-political-engagement-during-covid-19. (Accessed 13/02/2023)
4. Booth, R.B., Tombaugh, E., Kiesa, A., Lundberg, K. and Cohen, A. (2020b). Young People Turn to Online Political Engagement During COVID-19. [online] circle.tufts.edu. Available at: https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/young-people-turn-online-political-engagement-during-covid-19. (Accessed 13/02/2023)
5. Carnegie, M. (2022). Gen Z: How Young People Are Changing Activism. [online] Bbc. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220803-gen-z-how-young-people-are-changing-activism. (Accessed 9/02/2023)
6. Hellwig, A. (2011). Abstract Social Media Sites of Politicians Inluence Their Perception by Constituents. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 2, p.24. (Accessed 15/02/2023)
7. McInnes, R. (2020). General Election 2019: Turnout. parliament.uk. [online] Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/general-election-2019-turnout/. (Accessed 1402/2023)
8. Philbrick, I. and Leonhardt, D. (n.d.). How to Participate in Politics. [online] www.nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-participate-in-government. (Accessed 18 /02/2023)
9. www.cartoonstock.com. (n.d.). Political Disconnect Cartoons and Comics – funny pictures from CartoonStock. [online] Available at: https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/p/political_disconnect.asp    [Accessed 1 Mar. 2023].

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