Revolutionizing political participation: a modified UTAUT model for generation Z in the digital era

The emergence of social media has immensely influenced how the younger generations participate and interact in the discussion of the different societal and governmental issues. Thus, it is imperative to formulate information-media literacy and digital citizenship guidelines that may help promote healthy and safe political engagements and participation in the virtual space. In this study, the impacts of social media to the adolescents’ political awareness, participation, and activism were assessed and analyzed. Using the descriptive-correlational-comparative design, 523 senior high school students, aged 17-19 years old, were asked to answer the 50-item researcher-made questionnaire, Social Media Use, Political Participation, Awareness, and Activism (SMPPAA) Survey. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s coefficient of correlation, t-test, and ANOVA. The results revealed that the adolescents often use social media as a tool for presenting their political interests and to a great extent had relied on online information to get updates on political issues. The adolescents’ political participation, awareness, and activism did not significantly differ with respect to their age, sex, religious affiliation. There was differing level of political awareness among the adolescents as regards their socio-economic status. Moreover, the results affirmed the ideas propounded in the Cognitive Engagement Theory and Interest-Driven Theory regarding the influence of social media usage and reliance to online information with the development of the adolescents’ political awareness, participation, and activism.

This study is a crucial element of a broader initiative to evaluate political participation and awareness among university students. It was a mixed-method study comprising a survey to examine the political awareness and participation levels and a semi-structured interview to examine gender differences. The article outlines the gender differences in political awareness and political participation and the reasons for them, according to respondents. The results showcase that there was a significant gender difference in political awareness ( t = 1.976, p < .05) and political participation ( t = 4.575, p < .005). Analysis of the interviews revealed barriers to women’s political awareness and participation. The study addresses the gender difference and barriers and recommends strategies to overcome those barriers.

Purpose – This study investigates the role of civic education in shaping political participation among Generation Z in Indonesia, particularly in the context of peaceful elections. It aims to address the gap in understanding how the integration of digital and social media within civic education can empower young voters to engage constructively in the democratic process. Methods/Design/Approach – The study employs a conceptual approach using Theory Synthesis to integrate fragmented theories and literature on civic education, youth political participation, and peaceful elections. The literature was selected based on specific criteria, ensuring relevance to the subject matter. Data were synthesized to create a cohesive theoretical framework that connects the role of civic education with the political engagement of Generation Z. Findings – The study found that effective civic education, which integrates digital technology and social media, can significantly enhance Generation Z's political awareness and active participation. The findings suggest that current civic education curricula need to be updated to reflect the digital realities of Generation Z, thus improving the quality of their participation in elections and supporting a more peaceful democratic process. Originality/Value – This research contributes to the field by proposing a more adaptive civic education model that aligns with the technological inclinations of Generation Z. It offers a novel perspective by highlighting the importance of social media as a tool for political learning and engagement, an area often overlooked in existing studies. Practical Implications – The study underscores the need for educational policymakers to revise civic education curricula, incorporating digital and social media tools to better engage Generation Z. Implementing these changes could enhance the political literacy and participation of young voters, ultimately supporting more democratic and peaceful elections in Indonesia. Keywords Civic education, generation Z, political participation, peaceful elections, digital integration Paper type Conceptual paper

The use of social media has become an integral part of everyday life, including in people's political participation. Campus community political participation is greatly influenced by social media. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have a significant impact on political engagement. People use social media as a political campaign tool, as well as a means of communicating and obtaining political information that is fast, accurate and reliable. This research aims to determine the influence of social media on political participation in campus communities. The method used is descriptive qualitative. The data collection method was carried out by interviewing students. Participants in this research were PPI FUSI UINSU students using structured interviews conducted with 30 PPI FUSI UINSU students. Data is collected and analyzed to identify levels of media use, participation and politics. The research results show that social media is very important for citizen participation, especially the community. The role of social media as a medium for information about politics is quite large. Social media as a communication tool for seeking political information, social media has positive and negative impacts on the political participation of campus communities, especially in increasing political awareness and participation through online information and discussions and the spread of hoax news. With easy access and fast dissemination of information, social media allows students to more easily engage in political discussions, express opinions, and gather support for various issues. Apart from that, social media also helps in mass mobilization to attend demonstrations, elections and other political events. Social media has an important role in increasing the political participation of students in the Fusion Islamic Education Study Program at UIN North Sumatra. As a result, political participation among students has become more active and dynamic, creating a younger generation who is more aware and critical of developing political issues.

The aim of this research is to analyze the influence of political awareness on political participation in Bakung Udik Village, Tulang Bawang Regency. The method that used here is descriptive with a quantitative approach, involving 93 respondents. Data was analyzed using a simple linear regression test with the help of SPSS version 25. The results of the research show that respondents political awareness is divided into three indicators, namely output, input, and receipt of political information and freedom in giving opinions. 45.1% of respondents showed strong political awareness in output indicators, such as interest in political developments and participation in community organization. Input indicators, 46.2% of respondents have good political awareness, including knowledge of government policies and they understand that the government influences their lives. Indicators receiving political information and feeling the freedom to give opinions show that 69.8% are categorized as influential, indicating that they are well informed and have the freedom to give their opinions. Regression analysis shows that political awareness has a significant influence on political participation, with a coefficient of determination (Rsquare) is 44.6%. This means that 44.6% of the variation in political participation can be explained by the level of political awareness, while the remaining 55.4% is affected by other factors. Overall, the political participation of the people in Bakung Udik Village is already good, it looks from a fairly high percentage of the people participation compared to those who did not participate. The conclusion is, political awareness has an important influence for increasing political participation in village head elections.

Social media platforms have changed the behaviour of youth political participation in contemporary Zimbabwe. Given the popularity of technology, social media platforms have facilitated easier and faster ways of sharing and seeking information and political campaigns. This study sought to analyse social media integration and political participation with specific reference to youths in contemporary Zimbabwe. Circulating information on social media can influence one’s political views and participation. Hence, critical analysis was needed to determine how social media affects youths’ political participation in Zimbabwe. The study draws analytical praxes from the political activity theory and technology acceptance model to determine how social media influences youths’ political participation. The researcher used primary and secondary data sources such as journal articles and book chapters to collect data to analyse social media and youth political participation in Zimbabwe. The researcher also used content and thematic analysis to analyse data. Findings presented that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness promote the use of social media and political engagement. An interesting finding was that social media is used for political campaigns even though the voting process is done through secret ballot. However, a major concern is the challenge of hoax messages, ghost accounts and ghostwriters on social media platforms as the majority of people have become citizen reporters and journalists. Nevertheless, these findings conclude that social media platforms promote online political participation and less offline political participation. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has a pressing need to consider online voting to cover the gap between online and offline political participation towards the 2028 elections and beyond.

The digital era has had a significant impact on people’s perspectives, thus determining whether the vast reach of social media and its free access impacts Filipino teenager’s understanding of the issues in the country and their engagement in politics is crucial. The key aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between exposure to social media to the awareness on various social issues and the complex political involvement of youth. The study employed a correlational design of quantitative research approach use to analyze data gathered based on the conducted online survey of senior high school students from Tanauan City Integrated High School. In addition, this study applied a Pearson correlation to determine if a significant correlation existed. Findings showed that there is no significant connection between the respondents’ social media exposure and their level of awareness regarding societal issues in the country. On the other hand, there is a significant relationship between the respondents’ social media exposure and their level of radical involvement. This research demonstrates how a broader and more advanced understanding of youth’s radical political participation associated with more comprehensive measures of social media use can help better understand the role of digital platforms in influencing political participatory behavior and awareness among the internet generation. It is recommendable that future researchers could focus on a different aspect, highlighting the effects of specific social media platform to bring in-depth information about its implications to the political behaviors and awareness of youth in this particular variable.

This paper explores how political participation and engagement via social media may affect political participation and engagement offline and via other online channels, drawing from the exchange concept in marketing theory. Social media political participation and engagement is distinguished from other online activities, as the latter is restricted to users already involved in politics, as opposed to social media, which even allow users not involved in politics to be exposed to political messages. This study takes place within the context of Greece, characterised by the financial crisis. An exploratory quantitative methodology, employing a self-administered questionnaire (N=215 online users) was adopted. Results suggest that users who engage in politics, whether this is through social media or other online or offline activities, are more likely to participate politically in more than one form of political engagement. Social media usage intensity was positively associated with social media political participation, while favourable perceptions about politicians who use social media was associated with higher online participation activities among users. Gender was a significant factor for other online political engagement, while age was a significant factor for offline political engagement. Interestingly, the high perceived stress resulting from the financial crisis was not associated with any form of political engagement.

Purpose: This study investigates the relationship between social media use, political information-seeking, political attentiveness, political awareness, and political participation among Catholic youth in the Archdiocese of Semarang. It asks whether digital engagement leads to active civic involvement or remains confined to passive consumption. Methods: A quantitative survey was conducted among Catholic youth, chosen for their civic engagement and digital activity shaped by Church-based political education. Correlation tests examined the links between social media use, political awareness, and participation, focusing on attentiveness, information-seeking, and involvement in electoral and non-electoral activities. Findings: Although Catholic youth are highly active on social media, political engagement is selective and often passive. Political awareness is relatively high but does not translate into broad participation beyond elections. Political attentiveness strongly correlates with information-seeking, while awareness shows only a weak connection to actual participation. Barriers such as selective exposure, algorithmic curation, polarization, and the absence of sustained mobilization limit meaningful engagement. Originality: This study contributes theoretically by situating digital political engagement within a faith-based context, demonstrating how religious identity intersects with media effects and political behavior. It offers a novel conceptual integration of political attentiveness, information-seeking, and faith-based civic identity into digital participation models. Unlike prior research that generalizes youth behavior, this study provides a culturally grounded analysis of Catholic youth, emphasizing the Church’s dual role as both enabler and constraint of political agency. A hybrid mobilization model is proposed, bridging institutional support with community-driven digital activism to enrich theories of youth civic engagement.

Purpose: This study investigates the relationship between social media use, political information-seeking, political attentiveness, political awareness, and political participation among Catholic youth in the Archdiocese of Semarang. It asks whether digital engagement leads to active civic involvement or remains confined to passive consumption. Methods: A quantitative survey was conducted among Catholic youth, chosen for their civic engagement and digital activity shaped by Church-based political education. Correlation tests examined the links between social media use, political awareness, and participation, focusing on attentiveness, information-seeking, and involvement in electoral and non-electoral activities. Findings: Although Catholic youth are highly active on social media, political engagement is selective and often passive. Political awareness is relatively high but does not translate into broad participation beyond elections. Political attentiveness strongly correlates with information-seeking, while awareness shows only a weak connection to actual participation. Barriers such as selective exposure, algorithmic curation, polarization, and the absence of sustained mobilization limit meaningful engagement. Originality: This study contributes theoretically by situating digital political engagement within a faith-based context, demonstrating how religious identity intersects with media effects and political behavior. It offers a novel conceptual integration of political attentiveness, information-seeking, and faith-based civic identity into digital participation models. Unlike prior research that generalizes youth behavior, this study provides a culturally grounded analysis of Catholic youth, emphasizing the Church’s dual role as both enabler and constraint of political agency. A hybrid mobilization model is proposed, bridging institutional support with community-driven digital activism to enrich theories of youth civic engagement.

Intentions to participate in political crowdfunding- from the perspective of civic voluntarism model and theory of planned behavior

The purpose of this study is to examine the structural relationship among self-efficacy, social influence, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, and behavioral intention of mobile learning, which is based on the extended technology acceptance model. We performed a study to determine the impacts that social influence, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy have on behavioral intention of mobile learning through self-efficacy. Appropriate measures were developed and tested on 226 university students of Gyeongnam province in South Korea with a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The path relationship of the research model was analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 18.0. The results revealed that firstly, self-efficacy has positive effects on performance expectancy, social influence, and effort expectancy. Second, social influence has positive effects on performance expectancy, behavioral intention, and effort expectancy. Third, effort expectancy has positive effects on performance expectancy and behavioral intention. Fourth, performance expectancy has a positive effect on behavioral intention. Managers of mobile learning should focus on self-efficacy to enhance behavioral intention.

Social media sites are now vital resources for political activism and engagement. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are essential for encouraging political engagement and awareness among users because they enable the real-time sharing of news, viewpoints, and conversations. These observations highlight the changing nature of media consumption and political participation, highlighting the increasing significance of digital platforms and user-generated material in addition to conventional news sources. This study, titled explores the significant role of social media in shaping the political engagement of Malaysian youth during the 15th General Election (GE15. Utilizing the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as theoretical frameworks, this research delves into the motivations behind social media use and the factors influencing its acceptance among young voters. By integrating these frameworks, the study seeks to understand why Malaysian youth used social media during GE15 to engage in politics. This research synthesizing data from several sources, such as the papers, reports, and public opinion on social media. This research contributes to the understanding of digital political behavior by demonstrating how social media functions as a vital tool for youth political engagement in Malaysia’s General Election (GE) 15th. It underscores the importance of considering both psychological gratifications and technological acceptance when analyzing the impact of social media on political involvement.

The current era is called the information age, where humans really need information. The existence of the internet on smartphones makes it easier for humans to get information and enjoy content wherever and whenever. One of the content services in Indonesia is the MNC Group's RCTI + application. Although RCTI + is a new company, RCTI + has an active number of users of 302,569 until November 2019. RCTI + has a fairly high market share because the digital era is growing rapidly. This study measures the interest of users of RCTI + applications in Indonesia by using a modified UTAUT2 research model, where researchers analyze the variables Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Habit, and Content on Behavioral Intention. The data used in this study were 89 valid respondents obtained online using a questionnaire. Respondents are users of the RCTI + application. Researchers used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS software version 3.0 to test hypotheses. The results showed that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Habit and Content had an influence on Behavioral Intention. However, Hedonic Motivations has a negative influence on Behavioral Intention. The Age variable as a moderator variable influences Content on Behavioral Intention, while Gender has no effect. This study resulted in an R2 of 0,900 and included in the moderate category. This research, has found that the variable that most influences Behavioral Intention is Habit.

Being politically aware and participating in politics are essential determinants of a society’s democratic survival. One source of concerns for researchers of political behavior regarding post-apartheid South Africa is the low rates of youth’s political participation. There is however a dearth of empirical studies in the extant literature on the university students’ political awareness and their political participation in post-apartheid South Africa. This mixed-methods research was conducted to fill in this obvious gap. A study sample of 372 undergraduate students selected from one rural university in the Eastern Cape through the stratified random sampling techniques yielded the quantitative data, and the qualitative data were obtained from five (5) executive members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) who were purposively selected for semi-structured interviews. Both quantitative and qualitative data analyses were performed by employing simple descriptive and Pearson correlation statistics as well as a thematic content analytical approach. Results showed that nearly all the respondents demonstrated a high level of political awareness in terms of rights to vote and be voted for (99.4%), the importance of parliament, and the national constitution (99.1%) while the respondents’ levels of political participation appeared to be below average as only (49.2%) voted during the 2017 SRC election, whereas (30.4%) of them voted in the 2014 national elections. Students’ political awareness was found to be significantly correlated with their participation in political activities on-campus (r = 0.130) and off-campus (r = 0.185). In conclusion, the bivariate analysis indicated that there was a positive correlation between students’ political awareness and their participation in politics (P<0.001).