Social media boosts political participation among youth: Study

MELBOURNE: An increase in social media use leads to more political participation by young people, with Facebook being the most effective channel, a new study has found.

The study surveyed 3,600 young people, aged between 16-29 years, across Australia, the UK and the US, 90% of whom use Facebook as opposed to Twitter use which was on average 50%.

And 65% of the Australian participants in the survey also highlighted that Facebook is where they first hear about news and major events, rather than traditional news outlets such as print and television news programmes.

"Our research suggests that we need to take Facebook much more seriously as a space where young people — purposefully or incidentally — engage with politics, with their networks of friends and family," said associate professor Ariadne Vromen from the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney.

"We have found overall that increasing use of social media leads to more political participation by young people; especially for those young people that have an issue-based approach to why political participation matters, rather than a traditional orientation that only focuses on formal, electoral politics," said Vromen, who is a lead researcher in the two-year project called The Civic Network.

Many participants believe that 'liking' is an important way of showing support for political issues they and their friends care about, and are more likely to do this action than commenting on or sharing the posts.

One of the main reasons they are reluctant to comment is that they don't want to cause conflict between their family and friends on this platform, and some said they thought that political conversations were better done face-to-face.

Vromen said that this should be a two-way street, with politicians engaging through these platforms to connect with a younger audience too.

"Most of the young people we questioned said they think politicians should use social media more, they think politicians should be asked questions publicly more often to show they are responsive to people's views," said Vromen.

Colombo declaration on youth inclusion in politics

WCY 2014 Colombo Declaration Delivers Strong Message on Youth Inclusion

One of the most important global meetings of youth concluded Saturday (May 10) adopting  recommendations in a document titled “The Colombo Declaration” with far-reaching implications for policies affecting the world's youth population.

The Closing Plenary of the World Conference on

Youth (WCY) 2014 was held at the National Youth Services Council (NYSC) auditorium in Maharagama, near Colombo. Long drawn out negotiations, which finally ended around midnight Friday, culminated in a declaration that

is a first for all such conferences held so far – the first joint declaration by both the policymakers and the youth delegates, according to one official.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, the U.N. Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, said that he was very glad and grateful to be a part of WCY 2014 and extended his appreciation to the Government of Sri Lanka.

Mr. Alhendawi said that this was not the beginning or the end but an opportunity to cater to the issues brought forward for the benefit of the youth of the world.

Mr. Ravi Karkara, Global Expert Advisor on Children and Youth at the United Nations, said that it was the first time ever that a President of the U.N. General Assembly attended the WCY. It was particularly significant since it occurred at a very important moment when the world is deciding the post-2015 development agenda. About the International Task Force,he said, “This is the group which has led us to a point where we are right now, celebrating the World Conference on Youth for the first time led by young

people.” Continuing, Mr. Karkara said, “This is the moment where we look at the future today. We’ve said it so many times that the youth are the future. We contradict ourselves. We pretend we are talking about the future; we become hypocrites. We need to invest in young people today, and that’s what Sri Lanka has shown to the whole world.”

Dr. Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, addressing the gathering said that much deliberation and hard work had gone into the production of the document with contributions by member states, NGOs, youth organizations and many others.

"What we have now is a platform on which the interests of youth can be mainstreamed in the years to come," Dr. Kohona said. "We have even called for the establishment of a permanent office at the United Nations to deal with youth affairs." Dr. Kohona presented the “Colombo Decla

Nations to deal with youth affair

YOUTH ARISE!

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Thursday Mar 21, 2014  rose in stout defence of Nigerian youths, saying that they must be given chance to participate actively in the political leadership of the country.
The governor stated this while speaking on “Youth and the Future of Nigerian Politics’’ at the 50^th anniversary lecture of Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall, University of Ibadan.
“Enough is enough of the system that makes the youth political touts and bouncers. They must be effectively included in general party decision-making and leadership structure of all political parties.
“If the youth of this country must indeed be leaders of tomorrow, we must stop recycling grey-haired leaders in this country. There is no gainsaying the fact that the same set of people who had been ruling the country in the last 30-40 years are still the recurrent factors in rulership today.
“The present scheme of things where the youth are jobless, cannot boast of a today, is such that it would be very difficult to articulate a concise tomorrow for them.
“All efforts must thus be made to ensure that the youth are leaders of their stomachs today before we can consider them for leadership of the nation tomorrow,’’ the governor said.
He also stressed the need for addressing youth restiveness in Nigeria, stressing that “in a country with over 10 million unemployed graduate youths, their involvement in social vices, taking up arms and general restiveness, is a given. This has made entrusting them with political power very difficult as they are seen as politically immature.
Governor Ajimobi also called on those occupying leadership positions in the country to ensure that the quality of education given to the children of today who would become leaders of tomorrow had left the deplorable level that it is today.
“The education that is given to the youth of today cannot be compared to the ones given to those great nationalists. Substandard education hampers the youth’s intellect and ability to master the political terrain.
“If we do all these, our youth would be on their way to occupying positions that rightly belong to them and the political future of our great country would be assured,’’ he said.
The Chairman of the occasion and former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), in his address, described the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe whose hall was named after as the most out-spoken and internationally-recognized Nigerian nationalist.
“Zik was a true Nigerian, a nationalist and an internationalist whose vision extended beyond Nigeria or West Africa,’’ he remarked.
The Guest Lecturer, Dr. Shettima Musatafa, said what Nigerians needed today was the proactive approach based on correct foresight and planning that could accommodate the various and varying interests of the majority and not a nation whose politics and governance were based on suspicious, ethno-religious, myopic, jingoistic and self-centred approach.
Mustafa, a former Minister of Agriculture, called for the bridging of the gap between the older and younger generations of politicians in order to address the misconception and suspicion between them, adding that this must be immediately rectified for Nigeria to move forward politically.