Advisor
Kristin Bovaird-Abbo
Type of Resources
Article
Date Created
12-9-2020
Abstract
Participation in democracy is important to its ability to remain functional over time. Young people have continually been shown to participate less in democracy than their older counterparts in the United States, especially when it comes to traditional forms of electoral politics like voting. The relationship between social media use and political participation is important to study. There could be certain mechanisms of social media depressing or increasing political participation that could yield important information for promoting youth turnout in elections. This study examines the relationship between Snapchat use and voter turnout in the United States 2018 midterm elections among students at University of Northern Colorado through a survey. Certain types of social media activity have a stronger relationship with political participation than others, and this study assesses what types of Snapchat use affects voter turnout. Among female participants, uploading a story on Snapchat that is political in nature was associated with higher voter turnout in the United States November 2018 midterm elections. However, viewing political news on Snapchat was negatively correlated with voter turnout in the United States November 2018 midterm elections for participants.
Degree Name
Bachelor
