The impact of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube on Millennials' political behavior

Abstract

Social media plays a prominent role in the daily lives of Millennials. The majority of Millennials use some form of social media, and with the amount of political content on various social media sites, it is worth examining how social media influences Millennials’ political behavior. This study focused on three social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This research was rooted in George Gerbner and Larry Gross’ Cultivation theory (1976), which states that long-term media exposure shapes reality. The study consisted of survey and focus group research, which attempted to determine how much time Millennials spend on each site, how politically active they are, and whether or not they thought their political behavior was influenced by social media. The resulting data showed that YouTube and Twitter were not used for political information, but Facebook is so saturated with political content that it may have a negative influence on formal political participation levels. Millennials may feel that participating in political dialogue on Facebook qualifies as formal political participation.