The Political Communication of Young Citizens Through Social Media

Event details

This one day pre-conference explores the influence of social media communications technologies upon the participatory culture of young citizens. The adoption of social media, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, by many young citizens in a variety of high profile political protests and campaigns around the world provides both a relatively new focus and a series of challenges for communication scholars. For some academics the interactive, collaborative and user-generated content capacities of social media offer the prospect of facilitating new modes of political communication which are commensurate with contemporary youth cultures centered around self-actualization, identity and individualism. Here it is possible to discern a cautious optimism for what are perceived as the inherent democratic features of social media that could enhance the participative and deliberative skills of young people (Jenkins 2006, Benkler 2006, Leadbetter 2008). Others, however, have exhibited greater anxiety about the influence of social media upon the political norms and actions of young citizens. In this context social media is sometimes identified as a source of instability (as in the urban unrest in the UK in August 2011) and also as a further challenge to conventional participatory political culture through fragmentation and personalization (Papacharissi, 2010, Pariser, 2011).

Directions: From the Hilton London Metropole Hotel (ICA hotel), take the Tube from Edgeware Road (Bakerloo Line) to Oxford Circus (Central Line) get off at Holborn, the LSE is 5 min walk.

Registration: Can be purchased securely via the University of York Online Store

ICA Pre Conference (PDF , 143kb)