O papel dos media sociais na participação política dos jovens em Portugal

Abstract

The study of social behavior and communication sciences have long been themes that are intertwined by their identical nature. In particular, the study of social media in political electoral participation gained a prominent place in the most recent studies related to the areaof communication motivated, essentially, by the role of these media influencing citizen’s behavior. The presence of social media in modern societies is undeniable, and therefore anindepth study of their role in the electoral behavior of voters is fundamental to produce more knowledge in this area of research. The choice of this theme is aligned with the urge to provide more answers and solutions in the face of the eminent electoral representation crisis that Portugal has been suffering over the last decades. Having the literature review as the initial theoretical point, this investigation will have as a concern to identify the behavior of young Portuguese citizens, both in electoral and political participation, as well as the role that social media assumes in this process. The Methodology chapter applied a qualitative method with indepthinterviews in six young people aged between 18 and 24 years, the first age group under study by several international organizations, such as the European Parliament, IDEA, OECD and PORDATA.The interviews on young people made it possible to assess the impacts of the stimuli received through social media on political electoral participation, specifically regarding the reception and processing of informative and political content, the potential mobilizer and political expression, as well as the new proximity to parties and politicians. To sum up, it is possible to conclude that young people in Portugal are effectively changing their participation means without neglecting the political environment, in general. Furthermore, young people admit to being directly influenced by contents visualized through social media, while simultaneously being aware of the dangers associated with his type of participation.

Date of Award	13 Jan 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rita Figueiras (Supervisor)