Citizens' Perspective on the Impact of Social Media on Politics in Kuwait

Abstract

The use of social media in Kuwait has clearly grown in a noticeable way. This growth has affected Kuwaitis in a number of ways. One such effect is in the political arena. This study investigates one aspect of the relationship between social media and politics in Kuwait. The plan is to study the impact of social media on politics in Kuwait from citizens' perspective. In particular, the study focuses mainly on the level of engagement of Kuwaitis citizens' in political issues. For instance, we investigate the role of social media in Kuwaitis' awareness, their participation and political involvement. Towards this objective, a survey has been conducted in February 2016 through which a sample of 637 Kuwaitis were surveyed about their use of social media in dealing with political issues. The collected data were analyzed using the statistical tool SPSS. Analysis of the obtained results reveals that Kuwaitis use social media platforms, especially Twitter, to help them express their political views as well as, accept others' political views. The results also showed that there exists a statistically significant relationship between using social media and the increased political awareness, political participation and attitude of Kuwaitis towards politics. In light of the results, a series of recommendations are made for Kuwaiti citizens, government officials and parliament members. Some suggestions for future studies are also provided.