Impact of Social Media on Voting Behavior of Youth During Pakistan General Elections-2018

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to find out the impact of social media on voting behavior of youth in general elections (2018) of Pakistan. The study tested the Public Sphere Theory of German philosopher Jurgen Habermas, who stated that the Public Sphere provides discursive forum where public can exchange their views to generate a mutual judgment. Social media is a tool for shaping the attitude and behavior of young generation. This research is based on primary data collected from 300 students of various universities of the Federal Capital Territory Islamabad. Through purposive sampling technique, the university students were selected for administration of questionnaire and collection of data on the variables of the study. Regression analysis of the data showed that social media has impact on the voting behavior of youth. The results also proved that political activities and political content on social media has power to influence the voting behavior of youth. Therefore, the findings of the study suggest that social media has emerged as a powerful media of public sphere in Pakistan. University students spend most of the time on social media for socialization, entrainment, information, and discussion. The results show that youth relies more on social media as compared to traditional media for political information and political discussion.