"We can't have this system anymore, we have to abolish it": Social Media's Role in Shifting Youth Sociopolitical Development Admist the Dual Pandemics

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Student & Teacher Experiences in Educational Research

Abstract

The onset of the dual pandemics (COVID-19 and structural racism) coincided with increased reliance on social media. Effects on adolescent sociopolitical development are still being uncovered. In this study, we interviewed 11 youth (ages 14-19) about social media use from spring 2020 to fall 2021, and how it impacted their sociopolitical development. Youth reported an intensification of sociopolitical learning, decreased trust in U.S. political institutions, and an increased sense of collective identity. They also noted a shift to horizontal strategies like digital organizing and mutual aid, a pendulum swing from high activity to burnout, and centering racial justice in organizing. These results can inform social justice education with youth in the 2020s and help build stronger intergenerational movements for social change.

Authors

• Angela L. Malorni, Rutgers University

• Sara Wilf, California Polytechnic State University