Political Participation as a Social Activity: Examining the Relationship of Facebook Endorsements and Political Participation in Young Voters

Young adults ages 18 to 24 remain the group most likely to vote infrequently and be unregistered to vote (Lopez, Kirby, & Sagoff, 2005). This study aims to extend the literature and examine social endorsement cues’ influence on political participation in youth voters by applying the heuristic-systematic model of persuasion. The HSM of persuasion proposes that an individual takes the information that is most accessible and available and then applies that information before making a decision (Forehand, Smith, & Gastil, 2004). College students ages 18 to 24 completed an online questionnaire that asked about Facebook and political participation. The results showed that social endorsements on Facebook do predict political participation both online and offline. The results of studies such as this one strive to serve as valuable information for voting campaigns and initiatives to attract more voters to the polls.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Thevenow, Katherine

• communication

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/82183

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/82183