Social media use and political participation among young people in Hong Kong: A structural equation analysis

Abstract

Past studies consistently reveal a positive relationship between social media use and political participation, but the mechanisms connecting them are still unclear. This chapter addresses the above gaps by examining the mediating roles of prosocialness and life satisfaction in the relationship between social media use and political participation. Using structural equation analysis, this study differentiates the impacts of different types of social media usage (social function use and entertainment use) on two forms of political participation (conventional form and radical form). The data comes from the first wave survey of a 4-wave longitudinal study among the young population in Hong Kong. The sample consists of 882 post-secondary students with a mean age of 21. In line with the existing literature, our analysis revealed the positive impacts of social media use on conventional political participation. The results also showed that the usage of social media for social functions increased participation in radical activism but using social media for entertainment functions lowered such participation. Findings of structural equation model corroborated the mediating roles of prosocialness and life satisfaction in the relationship between social media and conventional political participation. However, the results indicated that the effects of life satisfaction on radical activism were fully mediated by conventional political participation. Implications of the findings are discussed.