An Empirical Study of the Impact of Social Media Use on Online Political Participation of University Students in Western China

Abstract

More and more university students in China are opting to access, share, and comment on political issues via social media as a result of the rapid expansion of Internet technology. In the western part of China, you can find Western universities. University students there find it challenging to use the Internet and engage in online political activities due to the region’s level of economic development and social conventions. We are unsure whether their political involvement will have an effect on how society functions as a result. This study uses 530 students from Western colleges as a sample to investigate the effects of social media use on online political involvement and the adjustment effect of political efficacy. It combines a correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and regression multiples with a questionnaire survey. The results showed a strong positive link between Western Chinese university students’ online political participation and their use of social media. Students’ online political engagement in Western colleges greatly increased their political efficacy. Influence was governed by how effectively politics were perceived. This research can increase the political engagement of Western Chinese university students who utilize social media and offer some suggestions for how the government might carry out its daily operations to better control this activity.

Keywords

• university students in Western China
• social media use
• online political participation
• political efficacy