THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON KAZAKHSTANI YOUTH’S POLITICAL BEHAVIOR
Keywords:
social media, social networks, youth, Kazakhstan, political participation, political behavior, democratizationAbstract
Over the past decade, an extensive corpus of works has been published on the impact of social media on political behavior and youth participation. Many scholars argue that social networks stimulate the activity of youth in both online and offline political life. In Kazakhstan, the young generation actively uses social media and is constantly exposed to the political content they contain. On the one hand, social media is an indispensable platform for collective discussion and youth involvement in socio- political processes. On the other hand, due to the large amount of information on social networks, most people are not selective about the reliability of the information they receive. This study aims speci on the influence of social media Instagram, Facebook and YouTube on the political behavior of the Kazakhstani “Generation Z” (those born in the digital world).
The research objectives of this work are achieved through an extensive review of relevant literature, as well as through a thorough analysis of the results of online surveys (n = 272) of young people aged 18-21 living in Almaty. In the context of this study, political behavior will relate to how young people use social networks to send and receive political information, and how social media shape their political views, beliefs, and political activism. The results of the study showed that political content on social networks enhances the level of political awareness and understanding of the Kazakhstani “Generation Z,” fosters a sense of belonging to its society and a desire to contribute to the country’s sustainable democratic development. At the same time, political information on social media does not sufficiently stimulate active offline participation of youth or increase their con in the ability to influence political leaders and the government.
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