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Comunicar Journal 61: Digital Competence for Teachers. Perspectives and foresights for a new school (Vol. 27 - 2019)

Online political participation of young people in Mexico, Spain and Chile

https://doi.org/10.3916/C61-2019-07

Daniel-Javier de-la-Garza-Montemayor

José-Antonio Peña-Ramos

Fátima Recuero-López

Abstract

Digital media are present in all areas of society, even configured as a new space for political socialization. This is especially applicable in the case of young people due to their high use of new technologies, as they are also trained with the necessary skills to do so. In this context, social networks have prompted the emergence of a new type of political participation: which takes place online. Therefore, this study delves into the relationship between the socialization that occurs in the network, digital skills and political participation online and offline. A quantitative survey-based methodology was used with university students from three Ibero-American countries: Mexico, Spain and Chile. The fieldwork was conducted between the months of December 2017 and June 2018. The results obtained show that young people consume mainly digital media, which does not prevent them from being critical with the quality they deserve. In this sense, the political participation actions in which they are involved are mostly developed in the network, thus participating to a lesser extent offline. Therefore, young people enter the world of politics through the consumption of information on the Internet, which favors a subsequent online political participation.

Keywords

Online learning, cyberactivism, survey, skills, young people, digital media, online civic engagement, socialization