SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND SOCIO-POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

Social media is a Computer Based Technology that facilitates sharing of Ideas, thoughts, and information through building virtual networks and communities. By design social media is Internet based and gives user quick electronic communication of content. Content includes personal information, documents, videos, photos etc. Users engage with social media via computer, tablet or smart phone. While social media is ubiquitous in America and Europe, China and India now lead the list of usage.Social media has been integrated in our society today to such extend that it is impossible for people to take you seriously if you are not on any social media platform. Everyone is on social media young, old, rich, poor etc. Popular social networks are Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp Instagram etc.Social media has reduced the world to a global village.Youths are spending more time in the social media than their friends and family. When they wake up the first thing they check is there social media accounts and before they go to sleep the last thing they check are the updates. Thus social media have become prominent part of life for many youths. The ability to access social media site through cell phones, iPads and other mobile Internet devices has increased the amount of time students spend to gain information on the sites. According to a recent study, voter participation is increased among Facebook users. In 2015 social media played a vital role in making a political party even win in the Delhi election. More than 50% of people gets breaking news on social media than any other media.Most of the protest were initiated in social media nowadays. Social media activitists are posting, sharing and commenting on photos and videos. Online activities related to politics are useful and encourage youth to participate in political events (Quintelier & Vissers, 2008). Internet use, political knowledge, and political participation are associated with one another. This trend is playing a key role in elections, especially in developing countries like Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Internet and social media have become increasingly important for disseminating political information (McAllister, 2015). Conversely, it also poses threats to democracies, as was seen in the 2016 United States presidential elections and some of the European countries. Social media is one of the biggest sources of information for billions of its users; however, it also has huge potential for disinformation to manipulate public opinion. The above-mentioned effects of social media on political activism are important in determining political dynamics. The Internet encourages its users toward politics and strengthens offline political participation which shows the dual effect of Internet on information and participation toward politics (Nam, 2012). The present study was an attempt to understand how college students use various social media sites and apps and create awareness among them about the current political situation .This helps to know their usage patterns, most used sites, participation in social and political issues.