Concerns about the rights of the child to participate in policy decisions that

affect them and worrying trends in electoral participation by the youngest cohorts

of voters have inspired a strengthened focus on young people and their role in the

democratic process. Rarely do discussions of this policy issue escape references to

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), and in particular, the Internet, as

fruitful avenues for engaging young people in the work of public institutions such as

parliament. Such references are not surprising. After all, young people are amongst

the most avid users of these technologies. If public officials and institutions hope to

engage with young people in any way, it will likely necessarily involve the use of

ICTs and the Internet, since these are such fundamental aspects of young people’s

everyday lives. In addition, some argue that because the Internet accommodates

flexible, networked communication it may be better suited to young people who are

likely to be intimidated or turned off by the hierarchical, rule-based, and adult-

dominated brand of political exchange associated with other political forums. Add to

this the fact that young people feel empowered online as the relative experts in the

use of the medium, and it seems that the Internet holds much promise for public

institutions seeking to empower young people as political actors (Livingstone,

2007).

Unfortunately, experience in the United Kingdom so far reveals that this

promise has yet to be realized. While opportunities for young people to participate

in online politics have proliferated in recent years, research suggests that youth

largely pass these opportunities by.

According to a 2004 study, 42% of those aged 12-19 who go online at least once

a week have never visited political websites. Of those who have visited such sites,

the majority (64%) simply “checked out the site”, suggesting that even if young

people are willing to visit a political site, they are not likely to interact with it in

anyway. Peer-to-peer communication amongst young people also appears largely

void of political exchange, with over half of those aged 12-19 that email, instant

message or chat saying that they never talk about political or civic issues via these

channels, and only 4% saying that they do so often (Livingstone & Bober, 2004). In

addition, research suggests that the majority of UK youth use the Internet as a

platform for communicating with those they already know from the offline world in

restricted networks, viewing communication with strangers as pointless and

dangerous. This research also reveals that young people value privacy in their

online communications, and resent those who attempt to invade their private online

worlds (Livingstone & Bober, 2003). Thus, not only do young people appear

reluctant to use the Internet as a political platform, but the notion that they use it for

broad, public, interactive participation within open networks, of a political nature or

otherwise, is also not supported by research.

Last, the assumption that young people will be willing to take up

opportunities for online political engagement is undermined by what we know

about socio-economic determinants of political participation in general. The online

world is not insulated from the reality of offline political dynamics – working class

children are less likely to vote for something online, contribute to a message board,

or sign a petition online than middle-class children. Arguably, those who are already

pre-disposed to political participation, and those who are generally not the prime

focus of democratic engagement strategies, stand to gain the most benefit from an

increased emphasis on online political opportunities (Livingstone & Bober, 2004).

Paradoxically, attempts to reduce gaps in participation between the young and old

through online engagement efforts may simply exacerbate existing gaps between

young people who are already more likely to be politically engaged and those who

are traditionally marginalized from the democratic process.

If research so far suggests that young people at best seize opportunities for

online political participation unequally, and at worst, do not participate in online

politics at all, this begs the question of why the Internet remains such a central focus

of concern in the academic and policy community interested in young people’s

political participation. Is the emphasis on the Internet distracting us from examining

more fruitful approaches to youth engagement?

Not necessarily. Arguably, the Internet still holds more potential as an avenue

for engaging young people than others, for the reasons suggested above. Still, our

initial experience with online engagement reveals, not surprisingly, that despite this

great potential, the same barriers to youth engagement present in the offline world

also apply to online engagement efforts. These barriers are well-known – young

people claim they are not interested in political issues, doubt that their input is

valued, feel they are too young to become involved in politics, or feel politics is

boring (Livingstone & Bober, 2004).

In other words, despite its promise as a means of engaging young people in the

work of public institutions such as parliament, the Internet has not proven to be a

silver bullet solution capable of eradicating the deeper issues that cause young

people to withdraw from formal political participation in the first place. If

parliaments and parliamentarians wish to empower young people as citizens, then,

it will take much more than simply setting up a Facebook page or creating a Twitter

account. After all, these are just tools, and their power lies in how they are used and

for what end, not simply the fact that they are used. As part of a strategy that seeks

genuine engagement on young people’s terms, taking into account their needs and

promising youth meaningful influence over policy decisions, these tools will likely

be a great support for those attempting to empower young citizens. Without this

underlying strategy, however, forays into online engagement will likely just

reproduce what we already see in the offline world, with public institutions

reaching out, and young people largely withdrawing.

References

Livingstone, Sonia & Bober, M. (2003). UK children go online: Listening to young people’s experiences. London: LSE Research Online. Retrieved from http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/archive/0000388

Livingstone, Sonia & Bober, M. (2004). Third report: Active participation or just more information? Young people’s take up of opportunities to act and interact on the internet. Economic Social and Research Council.

Livingstone, Sonia. (2007). The Challenge of Engaging Youth Online: Contrasting Producers' and Teenagers' Interpretations of Websites. European Journal of Communication, (22) 2, 165-184.