ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
In today’s modern world, political knowledge is not only conveyed or sought through traditional methods such as political rallies but also via social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The search for political information through social media has now become a global phenomenon. In recent years, the use of social media among youths in Malaysia has increased significantly. It is, thus, prudent to explore the use of social media platforms amongst youths in Malaysian. Therefore, this paper offers a review of studies on youth participation in politics via social media, particularly in the Malaysian context. The paper provides an overview of how Malaysian youths seek political information through social media and reviews recent information related to online resources in the political context. It was envisaged that this paper could advance our understanding of the trend and level of youth participation in politics via social media, particularly in Malaysia. Additionally, this review could provide useful information on the online dissemination and consumption of political information.
Abdul Razak, N., Saeed, M., & Ahmad, Z. (2013). Adopting Social Networking Sites (SNSs) as interactive communities among English Foreign Language (EFL) learners in writing: Opportunities and challenges. English Language Teaching. 6(11), 187-198. doi: 10.5539/elt.v6n11p187
Abdullah, N. H., Hassan, I., Ahmad, M. F., Omar, F. I., & Azmi, M. N. L. (2021). YouTube usage and youth netizens’ behaviors: A correlational study. Quantum Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(2), 56-64.
Ahmad, J. H., Ismail, N., & Nasir, N. N. A. (2015). Investigating Malaysian Youth’s Social Media Usage, Competencies and Practice with regard to Crime Prevention: An Application of the Social Media Literacy Model. Retrieved from: http://eprints.usm.my/32058/1/Nurzali,_Jamilah,_Nur.pdf
Amran, N., Saiful Bahry, F. D., Anwar, N., & Abu Bakar, R. (2013). Internet usage behaviors among young teenagers. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management (JIKM), 3(1), 51-62.
Asemi, A. (2005). Information searching habits of Internet users: A case study on the Medical Sciences University of Isfahan, Iran. Webology, 2(1), 1-11.
Bakker, T. P., & De Vreese, C. H. (2011). Good news for the future? Young people, Internet use, and political participation. Communication research, 38(4), 451-470.doi: 10.1177/0093650210381738
Baumgartner, J. C., & Morris, J. S. (2010). MyFaceTube politics: Social networking web sites and political engagement of young adults. Social Science Computer Review, 28(1), 24-44.doi: 10.1177/0894439309334325
Bennett, W. L. (2008). Civic life online: Learning how digital media can engage youth. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Bowyer, B. T., Kahne, J. E., & Middaugh, E. (2017). Youth comprehension of political messages in YouTube videos. new media & society, 19(4), 522-541.
doi: 10.1177/1461444815611593
Campante, F., Durante, R., & Sobbrio, F. (2018). Politics 2.0: The multifaceted effect of broadband internet on political participation. Journal of the European Economic Association, 16(4), 1094-1136.doi: 10.1093/jeea/jvx044
Carlisle, J. E., & Patton, R. C. (2013). Is social media changing how we understand political engagement? An analysis of Facebook and the 2008 presidential election. Political research quarterly, 66(4), 883-895.doi: 10.1177/1065912913482758
Chun, S., & Cho, J. S. (2012). E-participation and transparent policy decision making. Information Polity, 17(2), 129-145.
Cogburn, D. L., & Espinoza-Vasquez, F. K. (2011). From networked nominee to networked nation: Examining the impact of Web 2.0 and social media on political participation and civic engagement in the 2008 Obama campaign. Journal of political marketing, 10(1-2), 189-213.
Dimitrova, D. V., & Bystrom, D. (2013). The effects of social media on political participation and candidate image evaluations in the 2012 Iowa caucuses. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(11), 1568-1583.
Ekwenchi, O. C., & Udenze, S. (2014). Youth and political apathy: Lessons from a social media platform. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Review, 4(4), 1-8.
Gibson, R., & Cantijoch, M. (2013). Conceptualizing and measuring participation in the age of the internet: Is online political engagement really different to offline?. The Journal of Politics, 75(3), 701-716.doi: 10.1017/s0022381613000431
Grönlund, Å., & Wakabi, W. (2015). Citizens’ use of new media in authoritarian regimes: a case study of Uganda. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 67(1), 1-23.doi: 10.1002/j.1681-4835.2015.tb00479.x
Groshek, J., & Al-Rawi, A. (2013). Public sentiment and critical framing in social media content during the 2012 US presidential campaign. Social Science Computer Review, 31(5), 563-576.doi: 10.1177/0894439313490401
Hassan, I., & Azmi, M. N. L. (2018). Readers’ preferences for print and online newspapers in Northwestern Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9 (6), 965-974. doi:10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i6/4294
Hassan, I., Azmi, M. N. L., & Abdullahi, A. M. (2020). Evaluating the spread of fake news and its detection techniques on Social Networking Sites. Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, 22(1), 111-125.
Hassan, I., Azmi, M. N. L., & Atek, E. S. (2015). Measuring readers’ satisfaction with online newspaper contents: A study of Daily Trust, American Journal of Innovative Research and Applied Sciences, 1 (8), 304-311.
Hirzalla, F., & Zoonen, L. V. (2011). Beyond the online/offline divide: How youth’s online and offline civic activities converge. Social Science Computer Review, 29(4), 481-498.doi: 10.1177/0894439310385538
Hyun, K. D. (2012). Americanization of web-based political communication? A comparative analysis of political blogospheres in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 89(3), 397-413.doi: 10.1177/1077699012447919
Isaias, P., Kommers, P., Issa, T., Lim, J. S. Y., Agostinho, S., Harper, B., & Chicharo, J. (2014). The engagement of social media technologies by undergraduate informatics students for academic purpose in Malaysia. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 12(3), 177-194. doi: 10.1108/JICES-03-2014-0016/full/html
Iwogwagh, N. S., & Okoro, G. S. (2012). Social Media and Citizen Engagement in the 2011 Presidential Election in Nigeria. Paper presented at the International Conference on Communication, Media and Technology Design, Istanbul, Turkey.
Jafarkarimi, H., Sim, A. T. H., Saadatdoost, R., & Hee, J. M. (2016). Facebook addiction among Malaysian students. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 6(6), 465-469. doi: 10.7763/IJIET.2016.V6.733
Kauffman, H. J. (2009). Political discourse and participation utilizing Web 2.0 technologies. Washington: Gonzaga University Press.
Kaye, B. K., & Johnson, T. J. (2004). A Web for all reasons: uses and gratifications of Internet components for political information. Telematics and informatics, 21(3), 197-223.doi: 10.1016/S0736-5853(03)00037-6
Kim, Y., & Geidner, N. (2008). Politics as friendship: The impact of online social networks on young voters’ political behavior. Paper presented at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, Montreal, Canada.
Kushin, M. J., & Yamamoto, M. (2010). Did social media really matter? College students' use of online media and political decision making in the 2008 election. Mass Communication and Society, 13(5), 608-630.doi: 10.1080/15205436.2010.516863
Lambert, S. D., & Loiselle, C. G. (2007). Health information—seeking behavior. Qualitative health research, 17(8), 1006-1019.doi: 10.1177/1049732307305199
Lee, N. J., Shah, D. V., & McLeod, J. M. (2013). Processes of political socialization: A communication mediation approach to youth civic engagement. Communication Research, 40(5), 669-697.doi: 10.1177/0093650212436712
Lee, Y., & Lim, Y. K. (2015). Understanding the Roles and Influences of Mediators from Multiple Social Channels for Health Behavior Change. Paper presented at the 18th Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing, Vancouver BC, Canada.
Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Perrin, A., Stepler, R., Rainie, H. & Parker, K. (2015). Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015. Retrieved from:
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015.
Lim, Y. S., & Lee-Won, R. J. (2017). When retweets persuade: The persuasive effects of dialogic retweeting and the role of social presence in organizations’ Twitter-based communication. Telematics and informatics, 34(5), 422-433.doi: 10.1016/j.tele.2016.09.003
Mahmood, Q. K., Bhutta, M. H., & ul Haq, M. A. (2018). Effects of sociodemographic variables and Facebook group membership on students political participation. Education and Information Technologies, 23(5), 2235-2247.doi: 10.1007/s10639-018-9715-5
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Comission. (2016). Communications and multimedia pocket book of statistics 2016. Cyberjaya. https://www.mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/1H-2016-CM-Pocket-Book_revised.pdf
Jali, M. F., Besar, A. J., Sidek, A. H., Ibrahim, Y., Awal, M. N. A., & Ismail, K. (2012). Politik pembangunan dalam pilihan raya kecial Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Batang Air, Sarawak. Jurnal E-Geografia, 8(2), 88-97.
Mbetera, F. M. (2017). Social Media Use and Participatory Politics among Students in Universities in Nairobi, A critical examination of political use of social media by university students in Nairobi (Doctoral dissertation). University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Mustafa, S. E., & Hamzah, A. (2011). Online social networking: A new form of social interaction. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 1(2), 96-104.
Natarajan, M. (2012). Information-seeking behavior of students of Management Institutions in NCR of Delhi. Trends in Information Management, 8(2), 100-110.
Olabamiji, O. M. (2014). Use and misuse of the new media for political communication in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Developing Country Studies, 4(4), 92-102.
Pepinsky, T. B. (2013). The new media and Malaysian politics in historical perspective. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 35(1), 83-103.
Prybutok, G., & Ryan, S. (2015). Social media: the key to health information access for 18-to 30-year-old college students. CIN: computers, informatics, nursing, 33(4), 132-141. doi: 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000147
Saldaña, M., McGregor, S. C., & Gil de Zúñiga, H. (2015). Social media as a public space for politics: Cross-national comparison of news consumption and participatory behaviors in the United States and the United Kingdom. International Journal of Communication, 9(1), 3304-3326.
Salman, A., Yusoff, M. A., Salleh, M. A., & Abdullah, M. Y. (2018). Penggunaan media sosial untuk sokongan politik di Malaysia. Journal of Nusantara Studies 3 (1), 51-63. doi:10.24200/jonus.vol3iss1 pp51-63
Schlagwein, D., & Prasarnphanich, P. (2014). Social media around the GLOBE. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 24(2-3), 122-137.doi: 10.1080/10919392.2014.896713
Shaari, S. S., Besar, J. A., & Jali, M. F. M. (2017). Analysis of the Effectiveness of Ethnic Relations Subject as Political Literacy Trigger: A Study of UNIKL MIIT Students). e-Bangi, 14(6), 1-8.
Shen, K., & Shakir, M. (2009). Internet usage among young Arab students: Preliminary findings. Paper presented at the European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Smith, A. (2011). Why Americans use social media. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/11/15/why-americans-use-social-media/.
Ternes, A., Mittelstadt, A., & Towers, I. (2014). Using Facebook for Political Action. Social Networking Sites and Political Participation of Young Adults. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(1). 1-16. doi:10.4172/2223-5833.1000106
Tolbert, C. J., & McNeal, R. S. (2003). Unraveling the effects of the Internet on political participation?. Political research quarterly, 56(2), 175-185.doi: 10.1177/106591290305600206
Uzochukwu, C. E., Patricia, U. E., & Ukueze, C. A. (2014). Harnessing social media tools in the fight against corruption in Nigeria: Challenges and prospects. International Journal of Social Relevance Communication, 2(11), 5-14.
Valenzuela, S. (2013). Unpacking the use of social media for protest behavior: The roles of information, opinion expression, and activism. American behavioral scientist, 57(7), 920-942.doi: 10.1177/0002764213479375
Van Deursen, A., van Dijk, J., & Helsper, E. (2014). Investigating outcomes of online engagement. Retrieved from: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59994/
Varnali, K., & Gorgulu, V. (2015). A social influence perspective on expressive political participation in Twitter: the case of# OccupyGezi. Information, Communication & Society, 18(1), 1-16.doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2014.923480
Vicente, M. R., & Novo, A. (2014). An empirical analysis of e-participation. The role of social networks and e-government over citizens' online engagement. Government Information Quarterly, 31(3), 379-387.doi: 10.1016/j.giq.2013.12.006
Vuylsteke, A., Wen, Z., Baesens, B., & Poelmans, J. (2010). Consumers' search for information on the internet: how and why China differs from Western Europe. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 24(4), 309-331.doi: 10.1016/j.intmar.2010.02.010
Weinstein, E. C. (2014). The personal is political on social media: Online civic expression patterns and pathways among civically engaged youth. International Journal of Communication, 8(1), 210–233.
Westerman, D., Van Der Heide, B., Klein, K. A., & Walther, J. B. (2008). How do people really seek information about others?: Information seeking across Internet and traditional communication channels. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(3), 751-767.doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2008.00418.x
Yusop, F. D., & Sumari, M. (2013). The use of social media technologies among Malaysian youth. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 103(1), 1204-1209. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.448
Zhao, Y. (2014). New Media and Democracy: 3 Competing Visions from Cyber-Optimism and Cyber Pessimism. Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs, 2(1), 114-118. doi: 10.4172/2332-0761.1000114
In-Text Citation: (Abdullah et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Abdullah, N. H., Hassan, I., Ahmad, M. F. bin, Hassan, N. A., & Ismail, M. M. (2021). Social Media, Youths and Political Participation in Malaysia: A Review of Literature. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(4), 845-857.
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode