Evaluation of Social Media in Youth Mobilization for Political Participation. A Study of UNIZIK Students in 2023 General Elections

Abstract

This work investigates the Evaluation of social media in Youth Mobilization for Political Participation. A Study of UNIZIK Students in 2023 General Elections.The study aims to identify prevalent social media platforms, evaluate their dominance in political mobilization, assess the effectiveness of social media for youth mobilization, and discern the impact on youth participation. The work anchored on Agenda setting theory as a theoretical framework, utilized Taro Yamane's formula, to get a sample of 400 students drawn from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Analysis of social media effectiveness indicated a general agreement among respondents on the platform's efficacy for mobilizing youths. The impact analysis showed that social media, particularly Twitter, played a significant role in making youths more politically active during the elections. The study therefore underscores the pivotal role of social media, particularly Twitter, in mobilizing and engaging youth during the elections. The findings contribute valuable insights to the broader discourse on the intersection of social media and political participation among youth.