Social Media and Political Participation of Beginners
Lutfi Basit

University of Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara

Abstract

Internet connected gadgets are being a lifestyle for millennial teens and often used to access politics. Its characteristics make it the most preferred media. Not a few politicians and political parties who use this media to build a political image to attract prospective voters, especially beginners in the context of social media relations and youth. Teenage users are also quite large, Technasia released that 26 million active social media users are 13-19 years old. This study aims to describe the interest of beginner voters in regarding the contents of political messages on social media and the potential political participation of novice voters in Medan. This research is descriptive and designed using a quantitative approach with purposive techniques in determining the sample. The number of samples is 40 students from several high schools in Medan. Respondents answers were analyzed using a single table. The result of study show that novice voters have an interest in political content on social media, but are reluctant to bother responding to heavy levels, they just involved in a light way, this has become new in research. Although they were less interested in political information on social media, they stated that they would use their voting rights in the North Sumatra 2018 governor election. This proves that they have attention to politics, only reluctant to make heavy comments.

Keywords: Social Media, Political Participation, Beginner Voters

Topic: Communication Studies