Young People, Digital and Social Media, and Progressive Politics

This chapter reviews research on the impact of digital and social media on young people's political engagement in progressive politics, focusing on activism and social movement participation. Viewing collective action as a networked phenomenon, we suggest that multidimensional networks (MDNs) offer a useful lens to understand the complexities of young people's political participation across offline and online spaces. We argue that young people's activism operates as a collective action sociotechnical system, sustained by and evolving through intertwined digital and in-person interactions with various organizations, actors, friends, families, schools, and civic groups. MDNs can emancipate youth political engagement from adult-centric initiatives and enable young activists to advance their specific agendas within multiple contentious domains. We identify how MDNs can mobilize young people and also create hurdles for their engagement. Additionally, we reflect on how MDNs support progressive engagement and reduce young people's susceptibility to disinformation and misinformation.