The youth matters! The youths say counts!
The easy accessibility of social media allows the youth to engage with politics within one click, inspiring a new generation of young adults to become more politically involved. The online realm can be seen as a great example of online activism amongst the youth as the virtual environment allows politics to target them more effectively within their own comfort zone. For example “48% gathered news through social media, compared to 22% for all age groups, and 6% of
over-65s” (Sloam & Ehsan, 2017). Also BLM social movements through Instagram, young people are increasingly using online platforms to learn about, discuss, and share information on Covid 19, politics, and other topics. Providing adolescents with many avenues to participate with issues they care about and form a political identity. Many people are also expressing their views through online petitions, blogs, vlogs, and charity websites. It’s no longer up to the older generation to establish their future, the youth are now taking full advantage creating a “youthquake” amongst the political field. The graph below identifies social media’s huge impact on youth engagement with politics as its increasingly multiped in the lower graph, in my experience with accessing the internet, social media has been a quick accessible tool for me when learning about politics.
Figure 1. The influence of attention to political news and use of social media for political purposes on interest and participation.
What did Britain say to its trade partners? “See EU later.” – Anon
The surge in Brexits youth votes has proven the youth’s determination to be heard and involved, creating a new set of voting results one which is no longer committed to specifics biased parties. As the turnout amongst young people aged 18 to 24 in the EU referendum was almost double the level that has been widely reported since polling day, according to evidence compiled at the London School of Economics(Helm, 2018). The battle between the vote to leave or remain has created uproar adrenaline amongst the younger generations, leaving youngsters more aware and eager to participate for their future.
Evidence indicates that the Referendum had a significant impact on the youth, demonstrated through the table below. Showing convincing indicators that the referendum increased engagement and interest amongst young voters.
Data via EUROPP, 2016
The boost within political interest is shown through under30s votes “rising from 48% in March to 71% by polling day”(EUROPP, 2016). This eye-opening evidence justifies every vote to be considered, making the youth feel more motivated and powerful because their opinions are now being heard as a group. The video below depicts youngsters’ perspectives on Brexit and their say in politics.
Gen-zers voices are being heard!
It’s time for the political rise amongst the youth!
Although it took a while for the youth to realise the power they hold…
Young people’s low levels of political engagement were no surprise, their exclusion from the political world had left youngsters unaware of how crucial their vote is as the topic does not fit the young demographics latest “goss.” However…
Corbyn seizes the youth in full force!
General election 2017: What caused Labour’s youth vote surge?, 2017
It was Corbyn’s mission to target the youth and have their voice heard, the Labour Party’s Youth Corporation demonstrates youth involvement and enthusiasm in the 18-24 age group throughout the 2017 campaign. Early polls showed that Labour had a substantial lead in 2015, voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds was estimated to be “43%, compared with a 66.1% turnout overall” (General election 2017: What caused Labour’s youth vote surge?, 2017). This “youthquake” was the impetus for Corbyn’s unexpectedly strong performance, polling traditionally shows that the majority of young people vote Labour. This year, the proportion has jumped to “63% for 18-29-year-olds, according to YouGov”(General election 2017: What caused Labour’s youth vote surge? 2017). This clarifies the power politician strategies can hold IF they PRIORITISE young voters!
So how did the labour party boost their votes? through every youngster happy place…social media!
Jeremy Corbyn achieved about “three times as many Facebook likes (1.4 million) and Twitter followers (1.42 million) as Theresa May. And unlike May, Corbyn was more popular than his own party in these social media by 400,000 Facebook likes and almost a million Twitter followers” (General election 2017: What caused Labour’s youth vote surge? 2017). Corbyn instead decided to grasp his young voters through interactive positive content broadcasted online, justifying young citizen’s regular usage of social media acting as a leveller in terms of stimulating political involvement.
The substantial age disparity in voting shown in the graph below may be related to the culturally diverse society we now live in. As younger voters are more supportive of European integration and Corbyn’s internationalist vision, through the acceptance of immigration and cultural diversity(Sloam & Ehsan, 2017). Also Corbyn’s appeal to younger voters by “abolition of university tuition fees…reinstatement of housing benefits for the young” (Sloam & Ehsan, 2017). Whereas Conservatives aim at older voters. Therefore the rise of youth engagement implies parties must work harder to establish a bundle of ideas, that appeal to young people to avoid ageing of its support base.
So what’s next to come?
This blog identifies rising participation among the youth and politics demonstrating hope and optimism. It may not have been a victory for the youth, but the close tie proved their determination for change. There’s no longer reason to underestimate the youth since they’re not backing down! It is time to abandon the stereotype that young people are apathetic and not interested in politics (Keating & Melis, 2017). Instead, the youth and politics now stand hand in hand ready for a better future.
what are your thoughts?
References
EUROPP. (2016). Survey evidence: The EU referendum had a clear positive impact on young people’s political engagement. [online] Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2016/08/26/survey-evidence-the-eu-referendum-had-a-clear-positive-impact-on-young-peoples-political-engagement/.
General election 2017: What caused Labour’s youth vote surge? (2017). BBC News. [online] 16 Jun. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40244905.
Helm, T. (2018). EU referendum: youth turnout almost twice 8as high as first thought. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/09/young-people-referendum-turnout-brexit-twice-as-high.
Keating, A. and Melis, G. (2017). Social Media and Youth Political Engagement: Preaching to the converted or prividing a new voice for youth?. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, [online] 19(4), pp.877-894. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1369148117718461 [Accessed 23 Feb. 2022].
Sloam, J. & Ehsan, M. R. (2017 Youth Quake: Young People and the 2017 General Election. London: Intergenerational Foundation. Available from: http://www.if.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Youth-Quake_Final.pdf (Accessed: 23/02/22
Hi Sami!
I really enjoy the name of your blog, alongside the direction you chose to go with when talking about young peoples political engagement. I also loved the large amount oh photos and graphs, it made your blog a very pleasant read. 🙂
I agree when you state ‘it is no longer up to the older generation to establish their future’. As the younger generation grows older, they will naturally become the future of politics in the coming years making it every bit more important that they feel they can politically engage as equally as any other member of society.
I found (and have thus attached at the end of my comment) a website commenting on the specifics of social medias role in Labours recent elections, further adding more information to what you already perfectly mentioned about how important social media can be for helping young people politically engage.
I was thus wondering what your personal opinion would be on this? Do you feel that social media is the way forward?
Thank you!
Chloe
http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-5-the-digital-campaign/sharing-is-caring-labour-supporters-use-of-social-media-ge2017/
Hey Chloe thank you for leaving a comment:)
To answer your question yes I feel social media is the way forward when it comes to politics. It’s a platform used by so many youngsters and I feel it’s the most effective way to target them. Thanks for the link it really does further justify my point that social media is a great tool to get the youth engaged. What I found most interesting about the link is that “Instagram and Snapchat lack the ‘share’ feature often seen as integral for mobilizing political activity.” I was shocked at how true this is! as Snapchat is used as an app amongst close peers and therefore only targets a niche group. It had me wondering how effective it could be if we could share posts more widely. As the link mentions Snapchat was barely used politically and there is no data on politicians’ followers on the app. This popular app could have so much political potential and makes me wonder if Snapchat will change its features to help become more attractive for political campaigning.