The Use of Social Media by Young Georgians in Social and Political Activities to Support Ukraine

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to diagnose the use of social media (such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) by young Georgians (understood as people aged 18-35) in social and political activities to support Ukraine in the context of the ongoing war. The authors assumed that young Georgians use social media to a large extent to support Ukraine as a kind of socio-political activity, thanks to which the attitudes of young people towards the war itself and Georgia's place in this conflict are visible. To meet the above research objective and verify the initial hypothesis, the following research methods were used: (1) the method of analysing existing data – a review of the literature representing Polish researchers was conducted regarding terminological and conceptual issues related to “social activity” and “political activity”; (2) a statistical method with the technique of analysing secondary statistical data collected by the Caucasian Research Resource Centre; (3) the method of qualitative analysis with the technique of researching new media, namely social media, which is currently an important source of information about young people. The research allowed for a preliminary analysis of the importance of this type of new media in socio-political activity undertaken by young people, especially in expressing their opinions and presenting attitudes. The article does not exhaust the selected subject; it is only a study that made the analysis of the meaning and topicality of this issue possible. Such recognition of the research area also provided the opportunity to find a number of empirical methods that can fill the research gap in the context of studying young Georgians, as well as the role of social media in their social and political life.