Promoting Political Literacy Among Youth in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

In Oman, as in other countries around the world, young people traditionally have low levels of interest in politics. However, young people have high levels of social media usage, and there is evidence from the literature that new forms of political engagement are emerging through the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To help ensure that social media can be used effectively to engage citizens in government decision-making process, there is a need to provide young people and other citizens with digital literacy skills. This is especially important in Oman and other Middle Eastern Arab states, where there are currently high levels of youth unemployment, to avoid the type of unrest which occurred in the form of the Arab Spring and instead promote more constructive forms of citizen engagement. The chapter reports on a review of literature which examines these issues in the context of Oman, identifies examples of best practice digital literacy initiatives from other countries, and develops a series of recommendations for Oman.