New publication: How young people perceive digital activism

A new article by collaborators Martyna Elerian, Garth Stahl, Yating Hu, Vanessa R. Sperduti, Tara Bartlett, Carla Inguaggiato, Simon Eten Angyagre, and Ullrich Bauer, lab head Miri Yemini, and lab researcher Tatiana Khavenson has been published in Youth & Society: “Young People’s Perceptions of Digital Activism: The Role of Tenor and Tone in Shaping Civic Dispositions.”

Amid what has been called a “youthquake” in youth activism, with young people mobilizing around issues such as climate change, economic precarity, and political exclusion, much research has focused on activists themselves, but far less on how young people perceive the activist content they encounter. Drawing on data from 165 discussion groups conducted across six countries, the study analyzes how secondary school students interpret digital activism. Students expressed concern about the tone of activist messaging, as well as about actions they saw as overly radical, disruptive, or damaging, both online and offline. Overall, they strongly believed that activist messages should be primarily educational rather than contentious. The authors argue that the way young people reflect on the digital activism they are exposed to is part of their political socialization, shaping their understandings of social justice, civic dispositions, and sense of citizenship.