Impact of Social Media use on Voting Behavior of

Youth during General Elections-2013

Research Supervisor

SHAJEE HASSAN

Submitted by

ArslanMusaddiq

ROLL # PMCF12E020

SESSION 2012-2014

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST BENIFICENT

&

MOST MERCIFUL
 DEDICATION
I dedicate this effort to my beloved parents whose prayers, efforts and encouragement made me
enable to complete my research project.
 CORRECTION CERTIFICATE
It is certified that Mr. ArslanMusaddiq S/O Muhammad Musaddiq Khan student of M.Phil
has made all necessary changes suggested by the external examiner in the thesis entitled “Impact
of Social Media use on Voting Behavior of Youth during General Elections-2013”

Supervisor concerned
(Stamp and signature)

Chairman__________________
Department of Communication Studies,
University of Sargodha

(Stamp and signature)

 DECLARATION
It is certified that ARSLAN MUSADDIQ S/O MUHAMMAD MUSADDIQ KHAN has
completed his dissertation titled “Impact of Social Media use on Voting Behavior of Youth
during General Elections-2013”.This thesis has been submitted in accordance with the
requirement of HEC/UOS for the partial fulfillment of the M.Phil degree in Mass
Communication.This thesis has been submitted and approved on _____________.

Supervisor

SHAJEE HASSAN

Department of Communication Studies,

University of Sargodha

(Stamp and signature)

 DECLARATION

It is certified that the research work reported in this thesis entitled “Impact of Social Media use
on Voting Behavior of Youth during General Elections-2013” is done by me. I declare that
the text material, results or any part of the thesis is neither copied from the sources nor it
contained plagiarized contents. Proper references within the chapters are cited.

ArslanMusaddiq

Department of Communication Studies,

University of Sargodha

(Name and Signature of Student)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All the praises and thanks are for the ALLAH ALMIGHTY, who show us the right path and

whose blessings enabled me to make a small contribution to the existing knowledge of

communication studies. I also offer my special and humble thanks to my beloved Holy Prophet

HAZRAT MUHAMMAD (S.A.W) who is a source of guidance and role model forall humanity.

I also express my heartiest gratitude to my honorable supervisor Mr. Sir Shajee Hassan,

for his dynamic supervision and constructive guidance that enable me to complete my thesis. I

am extremely grateful to him for allowing me to benefit freely from his vast technical knowledge

and practical experience. Special thanks for him would always be due.

I am highly indebted to all my teachers for their king guidance, especially Professor Dr.

Muhammad Nawaz Mashud, Dean Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Chairman of

Communication studies Department, University of Sargodha for his kind attitude and

constructive criticism.

I also thank to all of my class fellows and friends for their support and I also pay my

special gratitude for those people whose well whishing and sincere attitude helped me a lot.

Finally, I would like to express my humble and sincere gratitude to my beloved Parents, brothers

and sisters for their prayers and support while compiling this paper.

ArslanMusaddiq

LIST OF ABREVATIONS
SNS Social Networking Sites
CMC Computer Mediated Communications
VPS Virtual Political Support
PML(N) Pakistan Muslim league Nawaz

PTI Pakistan Tekrik-e- Insaf

PPP Pakistan People’s Party
SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction
1-6

1.1 Mass Media and Politics 1

2
1.2 Concept of Social Media

2
1.3 Facebook

2
1.4 Twitter

1.5 Social Media and Politics 3

3
1.6 Social Media in Pakistan
4
1.7 Use of Social Media in Elections
4
1.8 Impact of Social Media Use on Voting Behavior
5
1.9 General Election 2013 in Pakistan and Social Media

6
1.10 Significance of the study

6
1.11 Research Question
6
1.12 Study’s Objectives

Chapter 2 Litreture of review 7-15

2.1 Summary 15

Chapter 3 Theoretical framework 16-21

17
3.1 Network Society Theory
 18
3.2 Mobilization Theory

19
3.3Major Concept and Conceptualization

20
3.4Operationalization of the major concepts
22-25
Chapter 4 Methadology

22

4.1 Research Methodology

22

4.2 Survey Research

23

4.3 Population
24

4.4 Sample
24
4.6 Sampling Techniques
24
4.6 Sample Size
24
4.7 Unit of analysis
25
4.8 Framing the Question
25
4.10 Data Collection
25

4.13 Data Presentation

25
4.14 Hypotheses
27-46
Chapter 5 Findings of the Study

5.1 Statistical analysis 42

Chapter 6 Summary and discussion 47-50

49

6.1 Policy Recommendations

50
6.2Implications for Future Research
Chapter 7 References 52-58

Annexure 60-63
 LIST OF TABLES

Table no Title Page

23
Table 5.1 Respondents Exposure to Social Media

25
Table 5.2 Political Information Acquired form Social Media
29
Table 5.3 Political Information Acquired about Leader of different Political Parties

31
Table 5.4 Political Information Acquired about Manifesto of different Political Parties
33
Table 5.5 Political Information Acquired about Songs of different Political Parties

LIST OF GRAPHS
Graph No Title Page
24
Graph 5.1 Users’ Interest in Social Media Political Content
24
Graph 5.2 Users’ Satisfaction with Social Media Political Content
26
Graph 5.3 Social Media Motivation and Political Participation
35
Graph 5.4 Influence of Social Media on Voting Behavior
 ABSTRACT
Present study has been conducted for the purpose of exploring the impact of the political content
of different social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and MySpace) on voting behavior of youth of
Faisalabad. The impact is measured in terms of social media motivation, political participation of
users and its influence on voting preferences of youth. The study is directed by three main
objectives: (i) To explore the impact of social media on voting behavior of youth during General
Elections (ii) To explore how social media users utilize SNS for politicalPurposes (iii) To
explore which type of social media is more effective in influencing voting behavior of youth.A
descriptive survey design has been used. This involved administering questionnaires as tools for
data collection. Triangulation of Stratified and purposive sampling has been applied.After the
division of the respondents into the strata’s of gender, age and education the researcher has
collected data from the sample size of 320 respondents, 160 male & 160 female from
government collage university, Faisalabad.The empirical findings of the study have revealed that
majority of the youth of Faisalabad preferably using Facebook for political purpose than Twitter
and MySpace. The results have also indicated that social media users acquire more political
information on social media about PTI and PML(N) as compared to PPP and other political
parties. According to another finding, social media political content influenced the voting
behaviour of youth to a certin level and social media has politically motivated the users to a
significant level. The study has also indicated that social media is an effectivetool for political
mobilization.
 Chapter 1

Introduction
The media has a huge impact on society in shaping the public opinion of the masses. It can
perform different functions to form or modify the public opinion in different ways. Providing
news or information, entertainment and education are basic functions of media. The first and
primary function of the media in a society is to provide news and information to the masses.
People need news or information for various reasons, from socialization to decision making.
Entertainment is another function of the mass media that helps the masses escape from worries.
Similarly, educating the masses about their rights, moral, social and religious obligations is
another important function of mass media (McCombs, 2013). In present era of globalization,
mass media plays the role of information high ways, providing the masses what they need like
work, entertainment, health care, education, socialization, travelling (Castells, 2011). In last five
decade or so, the media and its influence on societies, has grown rapidly with the advance of
technology. At first, the telegraph and the post offices have facilitated communication, now
radio, newspaper, magazines, television and the internet and new media are influencing society
and social relations (Vickery, 2004).

1.2 Mass Media and Politics

The mass media forms the backbone of democracy by providing political news and views to
voter that helps them in their political decision making (Nadeau, 2002). In a democratic society
independent media plays a role of watchdog of society that abridges politicians and masses. It
facilitates dialogue between government and public and also highlights the problems of masses
and provides a guideline to overcome these problems. Many political parties use media in their
political campaigns to present their manifesto and to attract the voters. Politics and mass media
are part and parcel and cannot exist without each other (McCombs, Shaw and Weaver, 1997).
News making, interpretation, socialization, persuasion and agenda setting are the political
functions served by mass media (Dye & Ziegler, 1983). Through these functions, the mass media
create political issues of relative importance; cultivate their meanings to alter public opinions and
attitudes at large.

1
1.3 Concept of Social Media
Social media has changed the way, we communicate and the way we work. Communications
expert, Joseph (2008) describes social media as, “online communications in which individuals
can play role of both the audience and the author at the same time”. It has certainly carved a
place for itself in the lives of people. It has vanished social and physical barriers. Companies and
political parties now have very strong social media wings to influence their voters (Bryan, 2013).
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, and YouTube are important social networking sites. Boyd &
Ellison (2007) describe social media networking sites as “internet-based applications that allow
users to build up a public profile within a closed system that have a list of users whom they have
a relation with and are able to view their own friends list and that of others within the system”.
Social media is interactive media in its nature and this interactivity on social networking sites
allows users to communicate their ideas in a reciprocal way that distinguishes social media from
other technologies. People use social media websites to share information, ideas and views.
Political parties are using social media to influence their voters. Many multinational companies
are developing their pages on social networking sites for advertising (Pempek, Yermolayeva&
Calvert, 2008).

1.3 Facebook
Facebook as social networking sites allows individuals, businesses, or groups to create personal
profiles or pages. It facilitates its members to share personal information, opinions and to form
groups of same interest to connect with others (Williams and Gulati, 2007). The features of
Facebook facilitate political communication (Westling, 2007). By the end of 2013; Facebook had
1.23bn monthly active users worldwide, adding 170million in just one year. According to
Facebook statistics there are 757 million users that log on to Facebook daily, as of 31 December
2013(www.theguardian.com, retrieval date: March 25, 2015).

1.4 Twitter
Twitter is a micro blogging website that allows its users to tweet information to other follower
users. A tweet is a short message, consist140 characters or less, appears on the timeline of
followers of Twitter. Politicians are actively using Twitter to make their voters aware about their
political activities (Dugan, 2010). Twitter is an easy way to share information and to answer

2
specific questions from users. There are roundabout 225 million Twitter users worldwide
(Bullas, 2011).

1.5 Social Media and Politics

Social media allow individuals, companies and political parties to share their ideas, opinions and
experiences with each other in a more interactive and interconnected way. In terms of politics,
social media has facilitated participation of citizens in various democratic processes in various
countries (Bertot, 2010). Internet and social media penetration is rapidly increasing and creating
new networks of social relations (Webster, 2014). Recently, Facebook has more than 900 million
people worldwide while Twitter counts more than 500 million users in total (Forbes, 2012).

Social media communication cannot be viewed simply as linear communication just like
the radio, television and newspapers since it facilitates two way communication, a reciprocal
interaction in which users can generate political content by themselves as it refered to (UGS)
users generated content (McClurg and Holbrook, 2009). Today people are in search of the ways
how to utilize social media to engage people in political discussions and influence their political
views (Kushin and Kitchener, 2009). These social networks are providing a platform for civic
and political participation (Skoric and Kwan, 2011). The interactivity on Social media facilitates
the politicians and voters to communicate in a more modern and quick way with immediate
feedback (Susanna, 2015). Social media is not simply a shift in technology; it has changed the
way people communicate. This change also reflects that how candidates behave, not just online
but everywhere (Jeffers, 2013). Social media especially Facebook and Twitter and MySpace
have altered campaigns in many ways. Social media allow politicians to speak directly to voter,
it helps them to organize their campaigns and also help in getting immediate feedback.

1.6 Social Media in Pakistan

Social media is rapidly growing in Pakistan. Millions of people have their accounts on social
media sites like, Twitter and Facebook. Social networking sites are not only limited to Pakistan
but these websites also allow young Pakistanis to connect with young people all across the world
and to maintain social relationships with members of other countries (www.pakistanhotline.com,
retrieval date: March 25, 2015). The social media can be a helpful factor in elimination of an

3
unfair system and unquestionable authority of the ruling elite (www.nation.com.pk/Lahore,
retrieval date: March 25, 2015). Online Social Networking Sites (SNS) are becoming very
popular in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and influencing the professional and social life of
millions of people (Diesner, 2012). Besides the other social media sites Facebook users are also
increasing in Pakistan as it stands at 27th position among the nations who use Facebook. As on
May 5, 2013, the total number of Facebook users in Pakistan is 8,648,000 which are the (4.69%)
of total population and (29.69%) of the internet users. During the last 6 month, more than
1,162,040 Facebook users grew up in Pakistan (Pakistan Facebook Statistics, 2013).

1.7 Use of Social Media in Elections

There is an emerging agreement among scholars that campaigns matter in elections based on the
evidence that the public respond to campaign events. Social media is very useful for election
campaigns (Gibson, 2011). The overall results of elections can be influenced by the magnitude of
the campaigns (Holbrook and McClurg, 2009). A strong and practical online election campaign
along with the other traditional media can influence the voting preferences of people (Wasswa,
2013).

1.8 Impact of Social Media Use on Voting Behavior

Election campaign and persuasive advertising can affect voting results for the particular
candidate (Franz, 2010). The researchers have the view that voting is a social behavior that may
be influenced by the social networks of social media as its features facilitate interpersonal
discussion that may foster both civic and political participation. Social networking is an effective
way to get more people involved in the democratic process (Fenton, 2011). Politicians are using
social media to motivate the users on Facebook to influence their political views accordingly
(Kushin and Kitchener, 2009). Political parties are actively using social media platforms such as
weblogs and social networking sites to disseminate political information to the voting public
(Herman, 2013). Social media brings politicians and parties closer to their potential voters
through personal communication (socialmediainpolitics.blogspot.com)

4
1.9 General Elections 2013 in Pakistan and Social Media
In light of election campaigns the social media is taking shape in Pakistan where political

candidates are using Facebook and Twitter as election campaign tools along with traditional

media to engage their supporters. Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and

blogs have become important tools for political campaign around the world. Now different

political parties are using social media for political slogans, comments and criticism (Sarwar,

2013). Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf introduced the use of social media in Pakistan to promote their

political manifesto for the purpose of attracting 80 million registered Pakistani voters in General

Elections, 2013. PTI existence on social media is bigger as compared to any other Pakistani

political party. Around 15 million Pakistani people are using Facebook and Twitter in Pakistan.

Imran Khan, Chairman of PTI, is the most popular politician on Twitter and Facebook in

Pakistan.Political parties now have strong social media wings. PTI & PML (N) and MQM are

most active, Jamat-e-Islami and other political parties now also have their online presence

(ahmedalijohar.blogspot.com, retrieval date: March 25, 2015). According to the ranking of

Pakistani politicians issued by Social Media websites Facebook and Twitter (Nov. 14, 2013) the

leader of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan stood on the top with the most followers on

Facebook and Twitter. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz PML (N) Shahbaz Sharif was on second

position, MarviMemon was at number 3 and Maryam Nawaz Sharif was at number 4 on Social

Media (Facebook and Twitter) ranking ( www.currentaffairspk.com , retrieval date: March 25,

2015).Social media is a very helpful in Pakistan because many politicians are facing security

threats and they have used social media as a tool for political campaign in Pakistan in general

election of 2013. Political parties have realized that social media is a useful medium for political

campaign. Awami National Party leader BushraGohar said that "I am using social media to get

news, information, to discuss various issues and to share party policies”.

5
1.10 Significance of The Study
Several studies on social media indicate there is a positive relationship between online presence

and vote shares such as Gibson and McAllister‘s (2006) study of Australian elections and

William and Gulatti (2006) study of U.S. elections. Huibers, T. (2011) study of election in

Netherlands and Aparaschivei (2011) study of Romanian presidential race and Malik (2014)

study of Indian elections also show a positive relationship between online presence and voting

preferences. However William and Gulatti (2006) have suggested that there is need for future

research to confirm these findings and demonstrate a causal connection between online strategies

and votes.

In Pakistan increasing penetration of internet and social media especially among youth as

around 18 million Pakistani people are using Facebook and Twitter in Pakistan. This rapid

growth of social media has drawn attention of many media researchers. Previous researches on

social media revolve around the dimensions of Persuasion, civic participation of users, political

mobilization, information, entertainment and other usage of these social networking sites. Many

researchers also observed the impact of social media on voting behavior in different countries but

in case of Pakistan this dimension needs to be addressed. So, present study aims at exploring the

social media using habits and especially its impact on users voting behavior during general

election 2013.

1.11Research questions
1. Do Social media really influence voters’ thought and decision making?
2. What is the impact of social media use on the voting behavior of youth during general
election 2013?
3. Which type of social media is more effective in influencing voting behavior of youth?
4. What are the ways through which social media users gather and share political information?

6
1.12 Study’s Objectives
In view of the overall project the objectives of the study include, in board, to determine:

1. To find out youth social media using habit for political purpose.

2. To find out the extent of social media influence on voting behavior of youth.

3. To explore which type of social media is more effective in influencing voting behavior of

youth.

7
 Chapter 2

Literature Review
The literature review is a springboard for further research studies. Researcher defines literature

review as the selection and effective evaluation of available documents for the purpose of

research being proposed (p.13). It is a process of reading, analyzing, evaluating, and

summarizing scholarly materials on a specific topic (Hart, 2003). It is a very valuable to know

that what has been done in previous studies, what methodology was used to find results and what

were the results of the research.

There is an emerging agreement among scholars that campaigns matter in elections based

on evidence that the public reacts to campaign events. The aggregate results in elections are

influenced by the magnitude of the campaigns (Holbrook and McClurg, 2009). Gibson (2011)

also proved that social media has become a useful means for election campaigns. Skoric and

Kwan (2011) stated that civic participation and political discussion are increasingly taking place

on social media. They also found that intensity of using Facebook and online and offline political

participation are correlated.

In his study, Bond (2012) conducted a study on the usages of social media during US

congressional elections 2010. The results show that the messages directly influenced the voting

behavior of millions of people. A multistep flow of information is also observed. A survey was

also conducted during the 1996 U.S. elections by Chandrasekaran (1996) indicated that about 8.5

million Americans acknowledged that their voting decision was influenced by the information

they had received on the internet.

8
This study examines impact of internet on election campaign in UK general election 2012. The

findings of study concluded that social media was successfully used in UK general election

(2012) to get people involved in political activities and to keep them engaged (Gibson & Bartlett,

2013). This study examines Facebook and Twitter followers of the main UK political parties.

Online political communication strategies among the Conservative Party, the Labor Party and the

Liberal Democrats are analyzed. The new idea of virtual political support is examined.

According to this study, social media is increasingly becoming used to get people involved in

political activities and keep them engaged (Bartlett, 2013).

Another study examined role of social media in the 2004 Australian national elections. The

findings of the study suggested that online campaigning had a positive impact on the voting

results for a candidate (McAllister, 2006).

This study effort has been made to explore role of social media in the 2004 Australian

national elections. The study suggests that online campaigning can have a positive impact on a

candidate‘s share of the vote. Even when controlling for financial resources and competition,

they found that having a web site increased a candidate‘s share of the vote by an average of 2

percent. Gibson and McAllister‘s findings are not specific to the Australian context since U.S.

congressional candidates who campaigned on Facebook in 2006 won a larger share of the vote

than candidates who did not campaign on Facebook when controlling for all other

variables.Gibson and McAllister‘s (2006).

This study was conducted in India on the topic of impact of social media on voting behavior.

The findings of the study showed that 90 % of respondents believed that social media played a

key role in motivating the voters toward certain decisions in election. It also revealed that

promoting manifestos was the most favorite purpose to be used by candidates in social media.

9
The difference between the total number of those who participated and not participated was

huge. More than half of the respondents joined the political discussions (Malik, 2014).

In this project study the role of social media in Romanian presidential race was observed.

The findings of the study revealed that the winning candidates have effectively used the new

media for political socialization of the Romanian peoples (Aparaschivei, 2011). In another study

the impact of social media on election 2010 and 2011 in Netherlands was examined. The study

concluded that social media shapes public participation. While in (2011) national elections social

media played a significant role in changing the voting behavior of users (Huibers, 2011).

McDonnell (2013) looked at the phenomenon of BeppeGrillo and M5S in Italy by studying

the relationship between politics and various social media platforms. The results showed that

social media helped in growing the Movement 5 Stelle from a small power to large political

power. Zhuo, et.al (2011) explored in their study that social media especially Facebook played a

crucial role in spring revolution.According to Bergstorm (2011) social media played a key role in

political campaign in Swedish general election 2010. The prime minister political party got more

votes (30.6 %) as compared to previous 2006 general election (20 %) votes. In Swedish general

election 2010 social media played a key role for political campaign (Annika Berg storm, 2011).

Another study examined the role of social media in the campaign of Segolene Royal during the

French elections in 2007. She managed to motivate a huge online crowed Due to her online

campaign (Montero, 2010).

This study was conducted on the topic of use of ‘Facebook’ for online political discussion.

The findings of the study revealed that disagreed persons (73%) after the political discussion on

Facebook agreed and only (17 %) persons remain disagree regarding their political decision

10
(Kushin, 2012). According to Sarwar (2013) social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook,

YouTube and blogs have become very trendy tools for political campaign around the world. He

observed that political parties are using social media for political slogans, comments, criticism

and to influence the voters.This study was conducted on the topic usage of Twitter in politics.

The findings concluded that tweets were persuasive regarding politics and are good for

promoting democracy and political activism (Parmelee, 2014).

In a study the role of social networking sites during emergency imposed by government of

Pakistan was examined. Data was collected from the three universities of Rawalpindi and

Islamabad. The findings concluded that social media politically influenced the students. It

promoted democracy and freedom of expressions (Shaheen, 2008).

In this study John H. Parmelee and Shannon (2012) conducted 1st comprehensive

examination about usage of Twitter in politics. In this study they used Surveys and in-depth

interviews for data collection. The findings concluded that tweets were persuasive regarding

politics and twits are good for promoting democracy and political activism.

Another Research study regarding social media usage has been published by BBC. The study

reveals that 67% of the total respondents of Facebook a very common and well known social portal

comprised of the youth and the students, so this compliment the fact the students have more focus and

relation to such social media.

It provides a mechanism for ongoing engagement through messages, which the content of the

messages usually about reflection of issues played in the mass media (Metzgar&Maruggi,

2009).Gibson (2011) also proved that social media has become a useful means for election

campaigns – conducted in an informal manner.

11
 In this study Azizudin and Zengeni (2008) found out, social media has become one of the

main mediums for the people’s expressions which cannot be disregarded by any democratic

government and citizens alike in the future.

The study found that young people tend to get political information from social media more

than any other age group. It is becoming clear that online tools play a significant role in shaping

public opinion and setting political agendas (Wallsten, 2007; Woolley et al. 2010).

This study examined the correlation between media political content and voting behavior.

The data was collected from 400 respondents by using face to face interview technique. The

empirical findings of the study revealed that exposure to political content influenced the voting

behavior of respondents. Television was perceived as the most preferred medium by the

respondents for acquiring political information and for voting decision during elections (2008),

followed by interpersonal channels respectively (Nawaz, 2009).

This study was conducted to check the relationship between the use social media and

political participation of users. The results of study clarified that social media was a popular tool

for the purpose of engaging the masses for political purposes (Skoric, Ying & Ng, 2009). Ellison,

et.al (2013) observed the users’ social media motivation and political and civic participation and

found positive correlation.

In this study Mcclurg (2014) observed that the interaction on social media has a strong

influence in politics. He has studied the effect of social interaction on participation is contingent

on the amount of political discussion that occurs in social networks. Several previous studies

observed the user motivations to participate in SNSs (e.g. Ellison, Stein field, and Lampe, 2007;

Lampe, Vitak, Ellison, 2013; Park, Kee, and (Valenzuela, 2009) focused on the Facebook use,

12
formation and maintenance of social capital. Many studies (e.g. Subrahmanyama, Reich,

Waechter, Espinoza, 2008) examined the user activities on SNSs. Other studies (e.g. Zhang,

Johnson, Seltzer and Bichard, 2009) studied the role of SNSs in engaging the people in civic

management and politics.

According to Sarwar (2013) social networking sites like twitter, Facebook, YouTube and

blogs have become very trendy tools for political campaign in around the world. He observed

that political parties are using social media for political slogans, favoritism, disliking, comments,

criticism and chit chat to inspire the voters.

Shannon (2012) observed that Twits are good for promoting democracy and political

activism. Another Research study regarding social media usage has been published by BBC. The

study reveals that 67% of the total respondents of Facebook a very common and well known social

portal comprised of the youth and the students, so this compliment the fact the students have more focus

and relation to such social media

Nawaz (2009) observed that exposure to political content influence the voting behavior of

people.Skoric, Ying & Ng (2009) studied that social media can influence and engage masses in

political discussion. According to Mcclurg (2014) the interaction on social media has a strong

influence in politics

In this study Westling (2007) examined the role of media in politics. He explored that media

has a vital role for political campaigns. In past politicians used mostly traditional communication

strategies for campaign has been used by politicians and political parties. They used television,

newspapers, radio, pamphlets and rallies as election campaign tools. It was a one way of

communication system that lacked immediate feedback. But now the use of internet has made

13
this interaction speedy and more interactive as it allows political parties and political actors to

engage themselves with community members. It is a more effective tool for campaign. Now,

social media especially Facebook is commonly used for political campaigns. It is a very useful

tool to communicate, mobilize and organize supporters.

This survey was conducted during the 1996 U.S. elections by Chandrasekaran (1996)

indicated that about 8.5 million Americans acknowledged that their voting decision was

influenced by the information they had found on the internet. Norris (2000) notes that the

influence of the internet on politics has been speculated on the support of mobilization and

reinforcement theories. Mobilization theories argue that virtual democracy will bring abundance

empowerment in a digital world whereas reinforcement theories argue that internet usage will

not transform but strengthen the existing patterns of social inequality and political participation.

Most research on internet with regards to political communication applies the arguments in one

of the above theories. The common ground for majority of political communication research on

the internet is based on whether it is becoming a new medium form of political engagement or

whether it is strengthening the existent power structures (Norris, 2000).

Ahmad (2012) Our examined that both direct and indirect influences among stakeholders are

gradually increasing; religious issue and social caste system had a great impact even couple of

years back, however their impact is gradually decreasing; governments are imposing new rules

and regulations to SNS to have more control over content; and more people is becoming

attracted to SNS due to its availability in local languages and accessibility through cell phones.

14
Summary

Social media and social networking is a phenomenon of interest to many scholars. Literature

examined reveals that social media has affected recent election campaign around the world in a

different but significant ways and also has drawn the attention of communication researchers.

Several studies on social media indicating a positive relationship between online presence and

vote shares such as Bond (2012) study of US presidential election, Bartlett(2013)election

campaign in UK general election 2012, McAllister (2006)study of Australian national election of

2004, Malik( 2014) study of Indian general election of 2014,Aparaschivei (2011)Romanian

presidential ,Huibers ( 2011) Netherland elections 2010 and 2011and the study of Swedish

general election 2010 by Bergstorm (2011). The feature of social media facilitates political

discussion and civic participation as is revealed by Kushin (2012) and Shaheen (2008). Skoric,

Ying & Ng (2009) and Mcclurg (2014) studied that social media can influence and engage

masses in political discussion. Nawaz (2009) observed that exposure to political content can

influence the voting behavior of people. However, William and Gulatti (2006) suggest that there

is need for future research to strengthen these findings and demonstrate a more causal connection

between online strategies and votes.

15
 Chapter 3

Theoretical Framework
A theory presents a systematic way of understanding events, behaviors and situations. It is a set
of interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that explains or predicts events or
situations by specifying relations among variables (www.esourceresearch.org, retrieval date:
March 25, 2015).This study adopts the Network theory and the Mobilization theory to explain
the impact of social Media use in the 2013 Pakistan general elections.

3.1 Network Society Theory

Manuel Castells conceived Network Society theory. In this theory, Castells argues that social
media is very useful in organizing and mobilizing the people due to the characteristics of social
networks that facilitate political activism (Castells, 2011). This includes the anonymity provided
by the internet, creation of weak ties and the unrestricted nature of online communication. The
internet allows for creation of weak ties with strangers through open interactions where
individuals social characteristics does not influence or hinder communication. Weak ties are
useful in providing information and opening up opportunities at a lower cost compared to other
forms of communication such as face to face communication (Wasswa, 2013).
Sharma (2003) the strength of a tie is determined by the amount of time invested in the
communication, emotional intensity, degree of intimacy and the reciprocal services which
characterize the tie. Therefore, social media networks are founded on the weak ties that exist
among acquaintances that either have mutual friends or share the same interests (Granovetter,
1983). The strength in weak ties lies in their ability to introduce us to new ideas and new
information, and the Internet which facilitates fostering of these ties due its incredible speed and
wide geographical reach (Wasswa, 2013). For example if president Obama during his 2008
election campaign only spoke to close friends or family members then he would not be able to
mobilize Volunteers, resources and voter support that was instrumental for running his campaign
and the resultant election wins (Granovetter, 1973).
By capitalizing on the weak ties that are forged online through social networks such as
Facebook and Twitter, politicians have been able to interact with diverse groups and
communities and mobilize the electorate to support their bids for elective posts. In conclusion,
weak ties that are established online help politicians to campaign on their candidature, solicit

16
support and resources through sharing their posts and messages thus information is not confined
among ones supporters only (Wasswa, 2013).

3.2 The Mobilization Theory

Strandberg (2006) identifies that the mobilization theory provides several positive predictions
regarding the internet’s ability to shape the political activity of citizens. The theory argues that
the internet has the ability to inform, organize and engage those who are currently marginalized
from the existing political system so that these groups will gradually become drawn into public
life and civic communities.
Lusoli& Ward (2004) argue that the mobilization theory speculate the internet’s ability to
inform, engage and make people more active users. Researchers such as Johnson and Kaye
(2003) argue that the internet has not changed the wider democratic process but has empowered
individuals politically by increasing their level of political involvement, campaign interest,
political interest and their likelihood of voting.
However, this study will adopt the Network theory and the Mobilization theory to explain
the impact of Social Media Use in the Pakistan General Elections (2013). The Network theory
argues that social media due to the characteristics of social networks facilitate political activism
while Mobilization theory predicts the ability of internet to inform, organize and engage those
marginalized from the existing political system. Social media is characterized with interactivity
and interconnectivity. It has made the reciprocity of ideas, possible and interlinks the world
communities through its social networks that facilitate the interpersonal discussions and foster
both civic and political participation. This interactivity helps in mobilizing and organizing the
users. So, on the premises that features of social media facilitate political participation that
ultimately result in political mobilization, researcher will adopt the Network theory and
Mobilization theory to support his research problem on theoretical grounds.

17
3.3 MAJOR CONCEPTS AND CONCEPTUALIZATION
3.3.1 Time Spending
Time spending concept will help to determine the usage of social media by youth, on which
social media site they spent more time.

3.3.2 Exposures to Social Media for Political Purpose

It is major concept of study which is conceptualized as to what extent the youth use social media
for fulfilling their political needs.

3.3.3 Interest in Social Media Political Content

It is conceptualized as users interest in social media political content that how much interest have
the social media users in political content.

3.3.4 Users Satisfaction with Political Information Shared by Social Media

While creating, sharing and uploading political programs on social media to what extent the
political information fulfill their needs and are they satisfied with the provision of information.

3.3.5 Social Media and Motivation in Political Activities

It is conceptualized as to what extent the exposure to social media political content motivates the
users to cast vote in elections during general elections 2013.

3.3.6 Social Media and Political Participation

In is also a main dimension of study and is conceptualized as social media usage enhances the
user’s participation in political activities.

3.3.7 Political Information Acquired about Political Parties

It is conceptualized as social media usage enhances the user’s information regarding different
political parties.

18
3.3.8 Dissemination of Political Information
It is conceptualized Social media users share, create and discuss political content that to what
extent social media cites are effective tool to disseminate political content.

3.3.9 Social Media Influence on Voting Decision

It is another major concept and is conceptualized as social media has some impact on voting
behavior then what influence has different social media cites on political decision making of
youth.

3.3.10 Confirmation of Voting Behavior/Decision

It is conceptualized as after obtaining political information from the social media, do users
confirm their decision or likelihood to vote.

3.4 OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE MAJOR CONCEPTS

3.4.1 Time Spending

It is operationalized as how much time daily do you spend while using social media Face book,
Twitter and MySpace?
Response categories: (a) Less than one hour (b) One hour (c) More than one hour

3.4.2 Exposures to Social Media for Political Purpose

It is operationalized as how frequently you are exposed to following social media for political
purpose Facebook, Twitter and MySpace?
Response categories: (a) Very frequently, (b) frequently, (c) somewhat, (d) rarely, (e) not at all.

3.4.3 Interest in Social Media Political Content

It is operationalized as how much interest do you take in the political content of Facebook,
Twitter and MySpace.
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) little, (e) not at all.

19
3.4.4 Users Satisfaction with Political Information shared by Social Media
It is operationalized as how much do users are satisfied with the political content of social media,
Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) little, (e) not at all.

3.4.5 Social Media and Political Motivation

It is operationalized as to what level social media politically motivate the youth to cast their vote
during general election 2013?
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) little, (e) not at all

3.4.6 Social Media and Political Participation

It is operationalized as to what level social media motivate the youth about civic and political
participation?
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) little, (e) not at all

3.4.7 Political Information Acquired about Political Parties

It is operationalized as to what level social media users acquired political information about
political parties as PML (N), PPP and PTI.
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) Rarely, (e) Never.

3.4.8 Dissemination of Political Information

It is operationalized as to what level social media users disseminate the political information
acquired from Facebook, Twitter and MySpace among their class fellows, friends, family
members and neighbors.
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) little, (e) not at

3.4.9 Social Media Influence on voting Decision

It is operationalized that how much influence has different social media cites on political
decision making of youth.
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) little, (e) not at all.

20
3.4.10 Confirmation of Voting Behavior/Decision
It is operationalized as to what level social media have brought change in voting decision during
general elections 2013.
Response categories: (a) Very much, (b) much, (c) somewhat, (d) little, (e) not at al

21
 Chapter 4

METHODOLOGY
4.1 Method
Research technique or tool used to collect data or a process through which the research plan is
directed is known as method. It may include the assumptions or values that serve as a rationale
for research. It is process in which data collection and interpretation is done by the researches to
draw meaningful conclusions (Bailey, 1982). Researches also define it as a mechanism which
assist researcher to manage his overall research plan in a logical sequence (Green & Brown,
2005). According to the nature of the study the Survey research method was used to explore the
nature of relationship among users’ exposure to social media sites for political purpose and their
impact on voting behavior or voting decision.

4.2 Survey Research

A survey is a systematic method for gathering information from (a sample of) entities for the
purposes of constructing quantitative descriptions of the attributes of the larger populations
which the entities are members (Philominathan, 2006). They are mainly used in such studies
where individuals are studied as a unit of analysis. In this study, survey research was adopted to
identify the exposure to social media political content and its impact on the voting behavior of
youth.

4.3 Population
The population or the universe represents the entire group of units which is the focus of study
(cited at: Handbook of household surveys, revised edition, 1984). Population in research is
known as a collection of individuals or objects based on similar characteristics. All individuals in
a given population almost have similar qualities and traits (www.explorable.com). In this study
the population is male and female students of Government College University of Faisalabad.

22
4.4 Sample
A sample is a special subset of population studied for the purpose of drawing meaningful
conclusions about the nature of entire population (Babbie, 1992). It is also described as a group
of respondents taken from a population to represent the entire population (hall, 2008). Usually
researchers want to collect the data from a larger population but due to time and resource
constraints it is not possible to interview the whole population so the researchers go for a
reasonable sample.

4.5 Sampling Techniques

Triangulation of Stratified and purposive sampling technique has been applied in present study.
Stratified sample studies a certain attribute in a population. Such as, individuals are categorized
as to whether they have that attribute or not, which may be based on gender, ethnicity,
educational level & so on. Stratified sampling procedure has been used in which demographic
characteristics included: Gender, age and educational level. After the division of the respondents
into the mentioned strata, purposive technique with data administration was used in which some
filter questions were asked form respondents anddata was collected from the male and female
respondents who were from the Government collage university, Faisalabad.

4.6 Sample Size

Sample size is selected number of data sources from the intended population (Given, 2008).
Statistical sampling shows that accuracy of an estimate from a probability sample is strongly
influenced by the size of the sample itself. In the present study the sample size of 320
respondents (160 male & 160 female from government collage university, Faisalabad) was
selected and data was collected through questionnaires to draw the meaningful conclusions.

4.7 Unit of analysis

Unit of analysis are people or things whose characteristics researchers observe, describe and
explain (Babbie, 1992). The units of analysis of this study were the male and female students of
government college university, Faisalabad and the purpose was to explore their exposure to
different social media political content and its impact on voting decision.

23
4.8 Framing the Question
Appropriate and logical questions are core in the social research to gather and document the
desired and most relevant data. Constructing good survey questions involve some basic
considerations that the questions must clearly communicate the desired information to the
respondent and questions should be worded to allow accurate transmission of respondents’
answer to researcher. In the present study well-planned questionnaire was developed (See
annexure-1). Empirical efforts were made to find out answers to the following major research
questions.
1. To explore how social media users utilize SNS for politicalPurposes.
2. To find out the extent of social media influence on voting behavior of youth.
3. To explore which type of social media is more effective in influencing voting behavior of
youth.
4. To explore the ways through which social media users gather and share political
information.

4.9 Data Collection

After specification of the demographic characteristics of the respondents and determination of
their subgroups respondents were contacted personally. Due to the nature of the study researcher
used the convenience and purposive techniques and that of data administration in which some
filter questions were asked form respondents. After the filtering respondents by using purposive
and convenience technique data was collected from 320 respondents through questionnaire. It
took almost two months from (July 15, 2013 to September 16, 2014) to complete data collection.

4.10 Data Presentation

The data has presented in the form of figures, charts and tables to make it simple, easy and
understandable.

4.11 Hypotheses
1. The More the youth using habit of social media for political information then more
chances of acquiring more information about politics.

24
2. There is strong relationship between using of Facebook and voting behavior of youth.
3. It is more likely that Facebook political content is more effective in influencing voting
behavior than the political content of Twitter and MySpace.

25
 Chapter 5

Findings of the Study

Social media has undoubtedly carved a place for itself in the lives of people. It has removed
social and physical barriers. Social media allows individuals, institutions and political parties to
share their ideas, opinions and experiences with each other in a more interactive and more
interconnected way. In terms of politics, social media has facilitated civic and political
participation of citizens in various democratic processes in several countries.The social media
like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have affected election campaigns across the world in
different ways. This has also been proved from the findings of this study as the respondents who
belong to diverse demographics background significantly exposed to different social networking
sites for a variety of reasons and mainly for political purpose. It has been observed that social
media users preferably using Facebook for political purpose as compared to Twitter, followed by
MySpace (Table 5.1).

The exclusive analysis of the study revealed that a significant portion (66.54%) of social media
user very much and much get exposed to Facebook for political purpose as compared to Twitter
(36%), followed by MySpace (3.44). In terms of gender wise analysis, a highly significant
difference has been observed that more male respondents (69.38%) and female respondents
(60.63%) very frequently and frequently get exposed to Facebook political content as compared
to Twitter users as male respondents are (37.51%) and female users (36.28%). However a little
difference has also found between users who somewhat get exposed to Facebook and Twitter for
political purpose. The age-wise analysis of respondents show a significant difference between
the users of Facebook and Twitter as the (63%) users who have the age of 24 years or above very
much and much get exposed to Facebook political content as compared to (37.42%) Twitter
users, followed by (2.50%) MySpace users. While the (63%) users having age of below 24 years
very much and much get exposed to Facebook political content as compared to (37.42%) Twitter
users, followed by (1.88%) users of MySpace. While users having age 24 years or above who’s
somewhat exposure to Facebook political content is more (24%) as compared (19%) Twitter
users. While among the users having age below 24 years no significant results obtained (Table
5.1).

26
 Table 5.1 Respondents Exposure to Social Media

Gender Age Education

Over all
*A B C D E F
Facebook
Very
frequently 38.44 43.13 33.75 36.84 40.27 35.98 41.03
Frequently 26.56 26.25 26.88 29.24 23.49 31.10 21.79
Somewhat 26.25 29.38 23.13 27.49 24.83 26.22 26.28
Rarely 14.69 9.38 20.00 16.37 12.75 15.85 13.46
Never 3.75 3.13 4.38 3.51 4.03 3.05 4.49
Twitter
Very
frequently 10.00 9.38 10.63 8.77 11.41 8.54 11.54
Frequently 26.88 28.13 25.63 28.65 24.83 31.10 22.44
Somewhat 16.56 18.13 15.00 14.04 19.46 14.02 19.23
Rarely 9.06 8.75 9.38 7.60 10.74 6.71 11.54
Never 27.81 24.38 31.25 27.49 28.19 27.44 28.21
MySpace
Very
frequently 1.25 0.63 1.88 1.75 0.67 6.10 7.69
Frequently 2.19 1.88 2.50 1.17 3.36 4.27 5.77
Somewhat 2.50 1.25 3.75 2.34 2.68 2.31 2.15
Rarely 30.00 31.88 28.13 25.73 31.54 26.22 25.64
Never 64.06 64.38 63.75 69.01 61.74 53.05 50.64

N= 320 160 160 171 149 164 156

^: Figures showing percentage
*: A- Male, B- Female, C- Less than 24 years, D- 24 years and above,
E- Undergraduate, F-Graduate.

The education wise analysis of respondents also shows significant difference between Facebook

and Twitter exposure. However, (62%) users having education of graduation or above get

exposed very much and much to Facebook as compare to Twitter users (37%). In somewhat

categories social media users having graduation (26.22%) use Facebook as compare to Twitter

users (14%). While the undergraduate users (26.28%) somewhat use Facebook as compare to

Twitter (19.23%). The findings of the study further revealed that users are more interested in

Facebook political content as compared to other socail media sites (Graphic 5.1).
27
 Graphic 5.1: Users’ Interest in Social Media Political Content

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very Frquently Somewhat Rarely Not at all
Frequently
Facebook 23.75 40.34 17.81 10.63 6.88
Twitter 12.19 25.63 29.38 11.25 21.55
MySpace 1.25 1.88 4.06 29.06 63.75

The empirical findings of the study show that (64.69%)users very much and much take more

interest in Facebook political content as compared to(37.81%) Twitter users, followed by

(3.13%) users who are interested in MySpace political content. Similarly, social users were

observed to have more interest in Facebook political content as compare to other socail media

sites. It has also been observed that users are more satisfied with Facebook political content than

that of Twitter and MySpace (Graphic 5.2).

Graphic 5.2: Users’ Satisfaction with Social Media Political Content

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very Frquently Somewhat Rarely Not at all
Frequently
Facebook 15.31 35 24.38 14.06 11.25
Twitter 14.06 26.56 22.81 6.25 30.31
MySpace 0.34 1.88 3.13 29.06 65

28
The empirical empirical findings of the study rebvealed that (50.31%) Socail media very much
and much are more satisfied with Facebook political content as compared to(40.63%) Twitter
users, followed by only (2.81%) users who expressed thier extent of satisfaction towards
MySpace political content. The results of the study also indicated that social media users acquire
different political information through various social media outlets. It has been observed from
empirical data that users acquired more political information from Facebook Pictures and
Facebook pages than Twitter’ tweets and comment writings (Table 5.2).
Table 5.2 Political information acquired form social media
Over all Gender Age Education
*A B C D E F
Facebook Posts
Very Much 28.75 30.00 27.50 35.09 34.90 36.59 33.33
Much 36.25 37.50 35.00 37.43 34.90 35.37 37.18
Somewhat 15.31 15.00 15.63 8.77 16.11 10.37 14.10
Rarely 14.06 13.13 15.00 13.45 8.05 12.20 9.62
Not at all 5.63 4.38 6.88 5.26 6.04 5.49 5.77
Facebook Pages
Very Much 32.50 36.88 28.13 38.60 34.90 35.98 30.77
Much 22.50 26.25 18.75 18.71 23.49 25.61 20.51
Somewhat 19.06 16.25 21.88 13.45 12.75 11.59 15.38
Rarely 11.25 8.13 14.38 15.20 12.75 12.80 12.18
Not at all 14.69 12.50 16.88 14.04 16.11 14.02 21.15
Comment writing
Very Much 25.63 30.00 21.25 33.33 34.90 31.10 28.85
Much 22.81 20.00 25.63 20.47 21.48 28.05 23.08
Somewhat 20.63 19.38 21.88 15.20 14.09 16.46 17.31
Rarely 16.25 15.00 17.50 17.54 12.75 10.37 14.74
Not at all 14.69 15.63 13.75 13.45 16.78 14.02 16.03
Pictures
Very Much 32.50 32.50 32.50 30.41 34.90 33.54 31.41
Much 25.63 26.88 24.38 24.56 26.85 24.39 26.92
Somewhat 15.94 16.88 15.00 15.20 16.78 16.46 15.38
Rarely 13.44 13.75 13.13 19.30 6.71 15.24 11.54
Not at all 12.50 10.00 15.00 10.53 14.77 10.37 14.74
Tweets
Very Much 13.44 15.00 11.88 12.87 14.09 11.59 15.38
Much 18.44 21.25 15.63 16.37 20.81 20.12 16.67
Somewhat 15.63 13.75 17.50 17.54 13.42 17.07 14.10
Rarely 24.69 25.63 23.75 25.73 23.49 23.78 25.64
Not at all 27.81 24.38 31.25 27.49 28.19 27.44 28.21

N= 320 160 160 171 149 164 156

^: Figures showing percentage
*: A- Male, B- Female, C- Less than 24 years, D- 24 years and above,
E- Undergraduate, F-Graduate.

29
The empirical analysis of the data showed that Socail media users acquired more political
information through Pictures (58.13%),and(65%) users acquired political information through
Facebook Posts. However (55%) users acquired political information via Facebook Pages.
Similarly (48.44%) users acquired political information through comments writing on socail
media and(31.88%)users acquired political information through Twitter’ Tweets. However in
somewhat catagories(15.31%),users acquire political information through Facebook Posts,
(19.06%)Through Facebook Pages, (20.63%) through comments writing on social media,though
Pictures(15.94) and (15.63%) acquire political information from tweets.The results of the study
further revealed a highly sifnificant difference between users who are more politically motivated
by Facebook political motivation in comparison with the political content of Twitter and
MySpace (Graphic 5.3).
Graphic 5.3: Social Media Motivation and Political Participation

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very Much Much Somewhat Rarely Not at all
Facebook 27.81 30.63 24.69 10.63 6.25
Twitter 10 14.69 15.31 35.3 24.69
MySpace 0.94 1.88 3.13 29.06 65

The empirical findings of the study show that (58.44%) users very much and much motivated by
getting expose to Facebook political content to take part in political activities more as compared
to (19.69%) Twitter users, followed by only (2.82%)MySpace users. However In somewhat
categories a little difference is also observed from empirical findings. However, it is further
observed that social media also motivated the users to practically participate in different political
activities to a certin level especially the male respondants were more politically motivated as
compared to female respondants (Table 5.3).

30
 Table 5.3 Users Participation in the Political Activities

Gender Age Education

Over all *A B C D E F
Procession
Very Much 12.50 15.63 9.38 12.28 12.75 10.98 8.33
Much 18.13 19.38 16.88 19.30 16.78 19.51 16.67
Somewhat 32.50 34.38 30.63 32.16 32.89 31.10 33.97
Rarely 23.13 23.13 23.13 22.81 23.49 23.17 23.08
Not at all 13.75 7.50 20.00 13.45 14.09 19.51 21.79
Seminars
Very Much 13.13 18.13 8.13 14.62 11.41 12.20 14.10
Much 19.69 20.00 19.38 19.88 19.46 20.12 19.23
Somewhat 35.94 31.88 40.00 34.50 37.58 39.63 32.05
Rarely 13.13 11.25 15.00 11.70 14.77 17.07 8.97
Not at all 18.13 18.75 17.50 19.30 16.78 15.24 21.15
Rallies
Very Much 6.88 8.13 5.63 7.02 6.71 7.32 6.41
Much 16.56 19.38 13.75 17.54 15.44 18.90 14.10
Somewhat 23.13 28.75 17.50 21.05 25.50 26.22 19.87
Rarely 24.38 13.13 35.63 28.65 19.46 25.00 23.72
Not at all 29.06 24.38 33.75 25.73 32.89 22.56 35.90
Corner Meetings
Very Much 8.13 10.63 5.63 8.77 7.38 6.71 9.62
Much 13.13 14.38 11.88 13.45 12.75 12.20 14.10
Somewhat 19.06 21.25 16.88 18.13 20.13 20.73 17.31
Rarely 30.00 31.25 28.75 31.58 28.19 29.88 30.13
Not at all 29.69 22.50 36.88 28.07 31.54 30.49 28.85
Vote casting
Very Much 20.00 20.63 19.38 19.30 20.81 17.07 23.08
Much 26.88 29.38 24.38 26.32 27.52 24.39 29.49
Somewhat 17.19 17.50 16.88 15.20 19.46 20.73 13.46
Rarely 17.81 14.38 21.25 18.71 16.78 15.85 19.87
Not at all 18.13 18.13 18.13 20.47 15.44 21.95 14.10

N= 320 160 160 171 149 164 156

^: Figures showing percentage
*: A- Male, B- Female, C- Less than 24 years, D- 24 years and above,
E: Undergraduate, F-Graduate.
The empirical findings of the study exposed that (30.63%) Socail media users very frequenlty

and frequently participate in processions while (32.82%) users attended seminars,(23.44%) users

31
participated in political rallies,(21.26%) users ateend corner meetings and (46.88%) users

became more motivated to caste their votes accordingly. However in somewhat catagories users

participated in different political activities as (32.50%) users participate in processions, (35.94%)

users attended seminars, (23.13%) users participated in rallies,(19.06%) users attended corner

meetings and (17.19%) users were motivated to caste their votes.

The gender wise analysis of the study revealed a significant difference between male and female

respondents as male users were observed more politically motivated to take part in different

political activities as compared to female users. The results showed that (50%)male respondents

participated in vote casting activity (38.13%) the users who attended seminars,(35%) users who

participated in processions,(27%)users participated in rallies and (25%) users participated in

political activities by attending corner meetings in comparison with (43%)female respondents

who participated in vote casting activity ,(27.51%) users who attended seminars,(26.26%) users

participated in processions,(19.38%)users participated in rallies and (17.51%) users attended

corner meetings. It has also been observed from empirical findings that social media users

acquire political information about political parties in terms of Party leaders, party manifesto,

party songs and slogans. In terms of inter party acquired information analysis of PML(N)

revealed that more(64.38%) users acquire users acquire information about party manifesto

than(62.19%) users who acquire information about party leaders,(55.63%)users acquire

information about part slogans and (54.6%)users acquired information about part songs.

Similarly, the analysis of inter party acquired information about PTI revealed that more

(72.19%) users acquire users acquired information about party manifesto than(71.25%) users

who acquired information about party manifesto,(70.63%)users acquired information about

party songs and (61%)users who acquired information about part slogans. However, inter party

32
acquired information analysis about PPP revealed that (30%) users acquire users acquire

information about party manifesto,(20.25%) users acquire information about party

manifesto,(20%)users acquired information about party songs and (11%)users acquired

information about party slogans(Table 5.4 ,Table 5.5, &Table5.6 ). However the comparative

analysis of acquired information about the major political parties revealed that Socail media

users acquire more political information about the party leader of PTI as compared to party

leader of PML(N),followed by the party leader of PPP(Table 5.4).

Table 5.4 Political Information Acquired about Party Leader of different Political Parties

Gender Age Education

Over all *A B C D E F
PML(N)
Party Leader
Very Much 17.00 7.80 9.20 10.14 6.85 8.39 8.62
Much 22.80 10.80 12.00 10.74 12.08 10.54 12.72
Somewhat 8.00 5.00 3.00 4.57 3.42 3.71 4.10
Rarely 7.00 3.20 3.80 4.18 2.82 3.71 3.28
Not at all 9.20 5.20 4.00 4.37 4.83 5.66 3.49
PTI
Party Leader
Very Much 33.60 17.00 16.60 17.70 15.91 16.78 16.82
Much 12.00 6.60 5.40 4.97 7.05 6.05 5.95
Somewhat 10.00 4.80 5.20 5.57 4.43 5.07 4.92
Rarely 4.20 2.20 2.00 3.78 0.40 2.15 2.05
Not at all 4.20 1.40 2.80 1.99 2.21 1.95 2.26
PPP
Party Leader
Very Much 12.80 7.00 5.80 6.56 6.24 6.24 6.56
Much 6.40 3.40 3.00 3.38 3.02 3.71 2.67
Somewhat 15.60 7.20 8.40 10.34 5.23 9.17 6.36
Rarely 14.80 8.60 6.20 5.57 9.26 5.46 9.44
Not at all 14.40 5.80 8.60 8.15 6.24 7.41 6.97

N= 64 32 32 34 30 32 32
^: Figures showing percentage
*: A- Male, B- Female, C- Less than 24 years, D- 24 years and above,
E: Undergraduate, F-Graduate.

33
The empirical findings of the study inicated that more users(71.25%) very much and much

acquire more political information on social media about the party leader of PTI as compared

to(62.19%) users who very much and much acquire political information about the party leader

of PML(N), followed by (30%) users who acquire political information about the party leader of

PPP. However In somewhat categories a little difference is observed from empirical findings.

The result of the study further revealed that more users having the age of 24 years or above and

having more education acquire more political information on social media about the party

leader of PTI than the party leader PML(N).

The gender wise analysis of the study revealed a significant difference between male and

female respondents as more male respondents (73.75%) and female respondents (68.75%) very

much and much acquire more political information on social media about the party leader of

PTI as compared to (58.13%) male users and (66.25%) female users who are interested in

acquiring political information about PML(N) party leader, followed by (32.50%) male

respondents and (27.50%) female respondents who acquired information about part leader of

PPP. However, no significant difference found between male and female users who somewhat

interested in acquiring political information about PTI and PML (N).

The age wise analysis of the study revealed a significant difference between the users

interest in acquiring political information about party leaders of different political parties.

However, users having age below 24 years (66.67%) very much and much very much and much

acquire more political information on social media about the party leader of PTI as compared

to(61.40%) below 24 years users who very much and much acquire political information about

the party leader of PML(N), followed by (29.24%) users who acquire political information about

the party leader of PPP. Similarly users having age of above 24 years (76.51%) very much and

34
much very much and much acquire more political information on social media about the party

leader of PTI as compared to(63.9%) above 24 years users who very much and much acquire

political information about the party leader of PML(N), followed by (30.87%) users who acquire

political information about the party leader of PPP. However (30.41%) users having age below

24 years are interested somewhat in acquiring political information about party leader of PPP

while a little difference is observed between users having age of below 24 and users of 24 years

or above age who somewhat interested in acquiring political information about PTI and PML(N).

Similarly the education wise analysis of respondents shows significant difference

between undergraduate and graduate users who are interested in acquiring political information

about party leaders of different political parties. However an exclusive analysis revealed that

the undergraduate (71.34%) users very much and much acquire more political information on

social media about the party leader of PTI as compared to (59.15%) undergraduate users who

very much and much acquire political information about PML (N) party leader. However a little

difference is observed between users having education of graduation (71.15%) have very much

and much are interested in taking political information about PTI party leader as compare to

(66.67%) graduate users who acquire information about PML(N) party leader. Similarly

(28.66%) undergraduate and (19.87%) graduate users are somewhat interested in acquiring

political information about party leader of PPP while no significant difference is

observedbetween graduate and undergraduate users who somewhat interested in acquiring

political information about PTI and PML(N). Similarly, it has been observed that Socail media

users acquired more political information about the party manifesto of PTI as compared to

party manefesto of PML(N),followed by the party manefesto of PPP (Table 5.5).

35
 Table 5.5 Political Information Acquired about Manifesto of different Political Parties

Gender Age Education

Over all
*A B C D E F
PML(N)
Manifesto
Very Much 28.44 26.25 30.63 23.39 34.23 26.22 31.41
Much 35.94 37.50 34.38 35.09 36.91 33.54 38.46
Somewhat 14.69 13.13 16.25 15.79 13.42 16.46 12.82
Rarely 13.44 14.38 12.50 15.20 11.41 17.68 8.33
Not at all 7.50 8.75 6.25 10.53 4.03 6.10 8.97
PTI
Manifesto
Very Much 30.94 27.50 34.38 31.58 30.20 28.66 33.33
Much 41.25 45.00 37.50 40.94 41.61 39.02 43.59
Somewhat 15.31 16.25 14.38 15.20 15.44 18.90 11.54
Rarely 6.56 6.25 6.88 7.02 6.04 6.71 6.41
Not at all 5.94 5.00 6.88 5.26 6.71 6.71 5.13
PPP
Manifesto
Very Much 21.25 21.88 20.63 21.64 20.81 20.73 21.79
Much 19.38 21.25 17.50 17.54 21.48 20.73 17.95
Somewhat 14.38 12.50 16.25 21.05 6.71 19.51 8.97
Rarely 27.50 33.13 21.88 19.88 36.24 21.34 33.97
Not at all 17.50 11.25 23.75 19.88 14.77 17.68 17.31

N= 320 160 160 171 149 164 156

^: Figures showing percentage
*: A- Male, B- Female, C- Less than 24 years, D- 24 years and above,
E: Undergraduate, F-Graduate.
The empirical results of the study show that more users(72.19%) very much and much acquired
more political information about party manifesto of PTI as compared to(64.38%) users who
very much and much acquired political information about the manifesto PML(N), followed by
(40.63%) users who acquired political information about the party manifesto of PPP. However
In somewhat categories no significant difference was observed from empirical findings.
The gender wise analysis of the study revealed a significant difference between male and
female respondents as more male respondents (72.50%) and female respondents (71.88%) very
much and much acquire more political information on social media about the manifesto of PTI
as compared to (63.75%) male users and (65%) female users who are interested in acquiring
political information about the manifesto of PML(N), followed by (43.13%) male respondents

36
and (38.13%) female respondents who acquire information about manifesto of PPP. However, no
significant difference is found between male and female users somewhat interest in acquiring
political information about PTI and PML (N).

The age wise analysis of the study also indicated a significant difference between the

users interest in acquiring political information about party leaders of different political parties.

However, users having age below 24 years (72.51%) very much and much very much and much

acquire more political information on social media about the party leader of PTI as compared

to(58.48%) below 24 years users who very much and much acquire political information about

the party manifesto of PML(N), followed by (39.18%) users who acquire political information

about the party manifesto of PPP. Similarly no significant difference is observed between users

as the users having age of above 24 years (71.81%) very much and much very much and much

acquire more political information on social media about the party manifesto of PTI as

compared to(71.14%) above 24 years users who very much and much acquire political

information about the party manifesto of PML(N). Similarly analysis reveals no significant

difference in somewhat category.

Similarly the education wise analysis showed a significant between undergraduate and

graduate users who are interested in acquiring political information about party leaders of

different political parties. However an exclusive analysis revealed that the more graduate

(76.92%) users very much and much acquire more political information on social media about

the party manifesto of PTI as compared to (69.87%) graduate users who very much and much

acquire political information about party manifesto of PML(N). Similarly a little difference is

observed between undergraduate users (67.68%) very much and much are interested in taking

political information about part manifesto of PTI as compare to (59.76%) undergraduate users

who acquire information about PML (N) party leader. Similarly (41.46%) undergraduate and
37
(39.74%) graduate users are somewhat interested in acquiring political information about party

manifesto of PPP while no significant difference is observed between graduate and

undergraduate users who somewhat interested in acquiring political information about party

manifesto of PTI and PML(N). Similarly, it has been observed that Socail media users acquired

more political information about the party songs of PTI as compared to party of PML(N) part

songs ,followed by the party songs of PPP (Table 5.6).

Table 5.6 Political Information Acquired about Songs of different Political Parties

Gender Age Education

Over all
*A B C D E F
PML(N)
Party Songs
Very Much 25.31 22.50 28.13 23.39 27.52 26.22 24.36
Much 28.75 36.88 20.63 26.32 39.60 31.10 33.97
Somewhat 21.56 18.13 25.00 19.30 17.45 17.68 19.23
Rarely 14.38 15.00 13.75 18.13 9.40 15.24 12.82
Not at all 10.00 7.50 12.50 12.87 6.04 9.76 9.62
PTI
Party Songs
Very Much 35.63 36.25 35.00 36.26 34.90 37.80 33.33
Much 35.00 37.50 32.50 35.67 34.23 33.54 36.54
Somewhat 4.06 5.00 3.13 4.09 4.03 4.88 3.21
Rarely 11.88 12.50 11.25 9.94 14.09 10.37 13.46
Not at all 13.44 8.75 18.13 14.04 12.75 13.41 13.46
PTI
Party Songs
Very Much 14.38 16.88 11.88 13.45 15.44 12.80 16.03
Much 5.63 5.00 6.25 5.85 5.37 6.71 4.49
Somewhat 20.63 21.25 20.00 19.88 21.48 21.95 19.23
Rarely 29.38 29.38 29.38 32.16 26.17 29.27 29.49
Not at all 30.00 27.50 32.50 28.65 31.54 29.27 30.77
N= 320 160 160 171 149 164 156
^: Figures showing percentage
*: A- Male, B- Female, C- Less than 24 years, D- 24 years and above,
E: Undergraduate, F-Graduate.
The empirical results of the study show that more users(70.63%) very much and much acquired

more political information about PTI through party songs as compared to(54.06%) users who
38
very much and much acquired political information through the party songs PML(N), followed

by (20%) users who acquired political information about PPP through party songs. However In

somewhat categories no significant difference was observed from empirical findings.

The gender wise analysis of the study revealed a significant difference between male and

female respondents as more male respondents (73.75%) and female respondents (67.5%) very

much and much acquire more political information about PTI through the songs as compared

to (59.38%) male users and (48.76%) female users who are interested in acquiring political

information through party songs of PML(N), followed by (21.88%) male respondents and

(18.13%) female respondents who acquire information about PPP through party songs.

The age wise analysis of the study also indicated a significant difference between the

users interest in acquiring political information about different political parties through party

songs. However, users having age below 24 years (71.93%) very much and much very much and

much acquire more political information about the PTI trhoygh party songs as compared

to(49.71) below 24 years users who very much and much acquire political information about

the PML(N) through part songs. However an exclusive analysis revealed that the more graduate

(69.87%) users very much and much acquire more political information of PTI through party

songs as compared to (58.53%) graduate users who very much and much acquire political

information about PML (N) through party songs, followed by (20.52%) users who acquired

political information about PPP through party songs. It has been observed from empirical data

that Socail media political content inluenced the voting decision of youth to a certin level and

Facebook political content more influenced voting behaviour of youth of Faisalabad than

Twiteer and MySpace (Graphic 5.5).

39
 Graphic 5.5: Influence of Social Media Content on Voting Behavior

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very Much Much Somewhat Rarely Not at all
Facebook 26.45 30.4 20.43 12.72 10
Twitter 10 14.69 15.31 35.3 24.69
MySpace 0.94 1.88 3.13 29.06 65

The empirical findings of the study show that the Facebook political content influence the
voting decision of (56.85%) users very frequently and frequently more as compared to Twitter
(24.69%), followed by MySpace (2.82%). However In somewhat categories a little difference is
observed as Facebook political content influence (20.43%) users voting behavior in comparison
with (15.31%) Twitter users, followed by (3.13%) users whose voting behavior is influenced by
political content of MySpace.

40
 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
The term statistics refers to a set of methods and rules for organizing, summarizing and
interpreting information (Gravetter&Wallnau, 2000). A singular noun designated a field of
scholarly inquiry is defined as the science of describing and reasoning from numerical data. To
perform statistical analysis, a researcher requires a set of data and system for assigning numerals
to represent the data. The science of statistics deals with the method used in collection,
presentation, analysis and interpretation of data (Walpole, 1968). Research is cumulative, means
that takes start from research problem, determining objectives and formulating hypothesis to
submit for test, whether get support or not. Such process finally needs statistical test to explore
the significance of differences of the findings. Statistical analysis allows us to perform two tasks
with data: i- Provides a mechanism for systematically describing the characteristics of sample;
and ii- Statistics as a field of inquiry enables researchers to generalize sample statistics to the
parameters of a sample parent population. These dual functions parallel two branches of statistics
(Smith, 2000).
A measure of association is a single number that expresses the strength and often the
direction of a relationship. It condenses information about a bivariate relationship into a single
number. Chi squared can be used as a measure of association in descriptive statistics like the
others listed here, or in inferential statistics. The chi-square is a widely used and powerful way to
look at variables measured at the nominal or ordinal level. It has upper limit of infinity and a
lower limit of zero, meaning no association (Neuman, 2006). Pearson’s chi squared test (X2) is
the best known of several (Yates, likelihood ratio, portmanteau test in time series) chi squared
tests – statistical procedure whose results are evaluated by reference to the chi squared
distribution. Its properties were first investigated by Karl Pearson in 1900 (Chernoff, 1954).
Pearson’s chi squared test is used to assess two types of comparison: test of goodness of fit and
test of independence. A test of goodness of fit established whether or not an observed frequency
distribution differs from a theoretical distribution. A test of independence assesses whether
paired observations on two variables, expressed in a contingency table, are independent of each
other, e.g. polling response from people of different nationalities to see if one’s nationality
affects the response (Plackett, 1983).

41
 In hypothesis testing, or significance testing, the researcher either rejects hypothesis or
the null hypothesis. That is, if Ho is accepted (supported), it is assumed that H1 is rejected, and if
Ho is rejected, H1 must be accepted. To determine the statistical significance of a research study,
the researcher must set a probability level, or significance level, against which the null
hypothesis is tested. If the results of the study indicate a probability lower than this level, the
researcher can reject the null hypothesis. If the research outcome has a high probability the
researcher must support (or, more precisely, fail to reject) the null hypothesis. The probability
level is expressed by a lowercase letter p (indicating probability) followed by “less than” or “less
than or equal to” sign, and then a value. For example, p< .01 means that the null hypothesis is
being tested at the .01 level of significance and that the results will be considered statistically
significant if the probability is equal to or lower than this level. A .05 level of significance
indicates that the researcher has a 5% chance of making a wrong decision about rejecting the null
hypothesis (or accepting the research hypothesis). It is common practice in mass media research
studies to set the probability level at .01 or .05, which means that either one or five times out of
100, significant results of the study occur because of random error or chance (Wimmer and
Dominick, 2006).
For this study researcher set probability level .05 (p< .05) means researcher has a 5%
chance of making a wrong decision about accepting the research hypothesis or rejecting the null
hypothesis. Following tables shows the results of statistical test, researcher apply chi-square test
because the data of study was nominal and ordinal. Findings of the test also illustrate
significance level of association among independent and dependent variables.
Table 5.12 is showing users satisfaction level to social media political content. It indicates
that users satisfaction to Facebook political content (.001) is highly significant at 5% significance
level. Similarly, users satisfaction to Twitter political content (.029*) is also found significant.
While users satisfaction level to MySpace political content (.987) found non-significant in. Over
all, table figures showing that social media users are more satisfied with political contents of
Facebook and Twitter as compared to political contents of MySpace.

42
 Table 5.12 Exposure to Social Media political content and Viewers’ Satisfaction

Pearson Chi-Square Tests

Social networking sites Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Facebook 34.699a 16 .001*

Twitter 28.294 16 .029*

MySpace 6.077a 16 .987 NS

Table 5.12 Interest in Social Media political content and users’ motivation and
political participation

Pearson Chi-Square T

Social networking sites Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Facebook 76.227 16 .000*

Twitter 30.522 16 .015*

MySpace 14.027 16 .597 NS

43
Table 5.11 is showing that exposure to Facebook political content (.000*) is highly significant at
5% significance level in influencing voting behavior of youth. Similarly, influence of Twitter
political content (.010*) is also found significant. While MySpace political content (.824) found
non-significant in influencing voting behavior of youth. Over all ,table figures showing that the
voting behavior of social media users influenced more with political content of Facebook in
comparison with Twitter ,followed by MySpace which political content did not influence the
users voting behavior.

Table 5.12 Exposure to Social Media Political Content and its influence on voting behavior

Pearson Chi-Square Tests

Social networking sites Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Facebook 46.922 16 .000*

Twitter 31.921 16 .010*

MySpace 10.759 16 .824 NS

Table 5.12 is showing users interest in social media political content and their political
motivation and political participation. Overall results indicating that users interest in Facebook
political contents (.000*) is highly significant at 5% significance level in motivating the users to
take part in political activities. Similarly, political content of Twitter (.015 *) is also found
significant. While MySpace political content (.597) found non-significant in motivating the users
to take part in political activities

44
 Case Processing Summary Reliability Statistics
N % Cronbach's N of Items
Valid 315 98.4 Alpha
Cases Excluded 5 1.6 .820 44
Total 320 100.0
a. Listwise deletion based on all variables in the
procedure.

After data collection the reliability statistics for the valid cases founded (.820) which is
considered good level of reliability. Many scholars have the view that if the level of reliability
found less than (<.70) than it indicates that data is not reliable. However the present study
Cronbach's Alpha reliability level (.820) is observed that indicates that data is reliable.

45
 Chapter 6

Summary and Discussion

Present study has been conducted for the purpose of exploring the impact of the political content

of different social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and MySpace) on voting behavior of youth of

Faisalabad. The impact is measured in terms of social media motivation, political participation of

users and its influence on voting preferences of youth. The findings of the study revealed that

youth of Faisalabad preferably using Facebook for political purpose than Twitter and MySpace.

The study also indicates that Facebook is an effective tool for political mobilization and political

participation.

The empirical findings of the Results of the study have supported the hypothesis that ‘It is

more likely that Facebook political content is more effective in influencing voting behavior than

the political content of Twitter and MySpace’ as the results of the study revealed that (66.54%)

Facebook users get exposed to Facebook political content as compared to Twitter users(33.6%),

followed by (2.19%) MySpace users (Table 5.1). The results of the study have further indicated

that Facebook political content motivates the (58.44%) uers to take part in political activities as

compared to (19.69%) Twitter users. Similarly, Socail media political content inluence the users

voting decision of the youth of Faisalabad to a certin level as voting decision of (35%) users has

been influncd by the Facebook political content as compared to Twitter (23.75%), followed by

(2.21%) MySpaceusers (see Table 5.1, Table 5.3 &Table 5.9).

The findings of the study also indicated that users having less age and less qualification are

more exposing to Facebook political content than the users having age above 24 and more

education (Table 5.1). Further results of the study also revealed that users having less and less

qualification are more politically motivated with the political content of Facebook than the users

46
having age of 24 years or above with more education. However the users having more age and

more qualification are more politically motivated with the political content of Twitter than the

users having less age and less qualification (Table 5.5).

An exclusive analysis of the study exposed that socail media users (64.69%) users take

more interest in Facebook political content as compared to (37.81%) Twitter users , followed

by MySpace users (2.13%). From result it is further observed that users having below 24 years

age and less qualification are more interested in Facebook political content than the users having

age above 24 and more education (see Table 5.3).

The empirical findings of the study further showed that (50.31%) users are more satisfied

with Facebook political content as compared to(40.63%) Twitter users, followed by only

(2.81%) MySpace users. From result it has been further observed that users having below 24

years age and less qualification are more satisfied with Facebook political content than the users

having age above 24 and more education. The results of the study have further showed that

social media users acquired variety of political information from different social media outlets as

(65%) users acquired political information through Facebook Posts,(58.13%) through pictures

,(55%) through Facebook Pages and (48.44%) users acquired political information through

comments writing on socail media (see Figure 5.2).

Another important focus of the study to explore that what type of political information

users acquired about different political parties has been established. The empirical results of the

study showed that (71.25%) usersacquire more political information about the party leader of

PTI than (62.19%) users who acquire political information about the party leader of PML(N),

followed by (30%)users who acquire political information about the party leader of PPP.Findings

also revealed that more users having the age of 24 years or above and more education acquire

47
more political information on social media about the party leader of PTI than the PML(N) party

leader (Table 5.6).

The findings of the study have further disclosed that more users(72.19%)acquire more

political information about party manifesto of PTI as compared to(64.38%) users who acquire

political information about the manifesto PML(N), followed by (40.63%) users who acquire

political information about the party manifesto of PPP. Findings also indicated that users having

the age of 24 years or above with more education acquire more political information on social

media about the party manifesto of PTI than the PML(N) party manifesto(Table 5.7).

The empirical evidence of the study has also shown that users after exposing social media

for political purpose practically take part in different political activities to a certin level as

(30.63%) social media users participate in processions while (32.82%) users attend seminars,

(23.44%) users participate in political rallies,(21.26%) users ateend corner meetings and

(46.88%) users become more motivated to caste their votes accordingly (Figure5.3).The results

of the study have also shown that Socail media users share more information with their class

fellows (55.31%) ,with their friends(45.32%),with family members(25.94%) and (20.63%) users

share political information with their neighbours ,they acquired from social media (Figure5.4).

Overall summarizing the whole findings the role and impact of social media on voting

behavior is significant as social networks of social media facilitate political mobilization and

participation. Majority of the youth of Faisalabad preferably using Facebook for political

purpose than Twitter and MySpace and it is also observed that users having less age and less

qualification are more exposing to Facebook political content than the users having age above 24

and more education. Similarly the users having below 24 years age and less qualification are

more interested and also more politically motivated due to the Facebook political content than

48
the users having age above 24 and more education. On the contrary the users having more age

and more qualification are more politically motivated with the political content of Twitter than

the users having less age and less qualification.

The findings of the study also showed that users acquire political information from

different social media outlets; form Facebook posts and Facebook official pages ,

pictures,Tweets and comment writings.similarly, socail media users also acquired more political

information about the party leader of PTI than the party leader of PML(N), followed by the party

leader of PPP. Findings also revealed that more users having the age of 24 years or above and

more education acquire more political information on social media about the party leader of PTI

, than the PML(N) party leader.it has further been observed that social media users like to share

more political information, acquired from different social media outlets, with their class fellows

than their close friends, family members and neighbors.

The empirical findings of the study explained that social media political content

influenced the voting behaviour of youth to a certin level as Facebook political content influence

voting behaviour of (35%) users and the voting behaviour of (23.75%) users are influenced by

Twitter political content. Similarly the Facebook political content motivates the (58.44%) uers to

take part in political activities as compared to (19.69%)Twitter users and this social media

motivaion and mobilization can alter or effect the voting behaviour of its users as several studies

have supported this argument.

49
6.1 Recommendations
Keeping in view the findings and analysis of the study at hand, following suggestions and

recommendations are proposed:

 Social media should be an important component of election campaign strategies. More

than just maintaining presence on social media, it should be monitored to identify what

political topics people are talking.

 As social media is becoming an important medium .It should be checked that to how

social media propagates specific issues to general public.

 Blue State Digital is a USA based digital agency that carried out Osama’s highly

successful election campaign in 2012.They raised $690 million in donations 4.4M

donors. They created a visual identity for the campaign-logos, videos, a website, emails,

and social media presence.

 Advertising agencies of Pakistan should see this as possible area to explore in order to

differentiate their role from other agencies due to the emerging influence of social media

in various fields of life.

6.2 Implications for Future Research

Future researchers can focus on the following areas of the phenomenon:

 A comparative study among different social media sites may be conducted to check

their positive and negative impacts on users.

 A study may also be conducted to check users’ online activities and offline

engagement on social media.

 A survey may be conducted to check that how social media massage penetrates to a

larger population (idea from two-step flow to multistep flow)

50
 Sentiment analysis on topics and key words may be conducted to have a deeper

insight into what issues politicians make a stand on and talk about.

 An experimental study may also be conducted to check impact of social media

political activities and users political participation in real time world.

 A research project may be device to explore that how and why social media

interconnects the users to form social networks and how these social networks

influence social relations.

51
 References
Books

Ahmed, S., &Diesner, J. (2012). Information Network Analysis to Understand the Evolution

of Online Social Networking Sites in the Context of India, Pakistan, and

Bangladesh. Growth, 3(3.4), 1-6.

Aparaschivei, P. A. (2011). The use of new media in electoral campaigns: analysis on the use

of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in the 2009 Romanian presidential

campaign. Journal of Media Research, (2 (10), 39-60.

Bartlett & McDonnell, D. (2013). New political actors in Europe: BeppeGrillo and the M5S

Bennett, L., Freelon, D. G., Hussain, M., & Wells, C. (2012).Digital Media and Youth. The

SAGE handbook of political communication, 127.

Bergstorm, A. (2011). Social media in campaigning – citizens and politicians in the Swedish

2010 general election.Central European Journal of communication, pp 241- 257.

Berna, I. B. (2013).The Increasing Competitiveness of Singapore's Political

System. Geopolitics, History and International Relations, 5(1), 118.

Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Grimes, J. M. (2010).Using ICTs to create a culture of

transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools

for societies. Government information quarterly, 27(3), 264-271.

Bullas, J., 2011. 30 Terrific Twitter Facts And Figures.Jeffbullas.com, Web log post.

52
Castells, M. (2011). The power of identity: The information age: Economy, society, and

culture (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.

Castells, M. (2011). The rise of the network society: The information age: Economy,

society, and culture (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.

Fenton, N., &Barassi,V. (2011). Alternative media and social networking sites: The politics

of individuation and political participation. The Communication Review, 14(3), 179-

196.

Franz, M. M., &Ridout, T. N. (2010).Political advertising and persuasion in the 2004 and

2008 presidential elections. American Politics Research, 38(2), 303-329.

Galloway, S. and Guthrie, D., 2010. Digital IQ: U.S. Senate. L2, 18 August. Available at:

Gibson, R. K., & McAllister, I. (2011). Do online election campaigns win votes? The 2007

Australian “YouTube” election. Political Communication, 28(2), 227-244.

Gidengil, E., Nadeau, R., &Nevitte, N. (2002). Anatomy of a liberal victory: Making sense

of the vote in the 2000 Canadian election. Peterborough: Broadview Press.

Granovetter, M. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociological

theory, 1(1), 201-233.

Hah, F. L. (2012). New media and old politics: The role of blogging in the 2008 Malaysian

general election.

53
Hannon, J., Bennett, M., & Smyth, B. (2010, September).Recommending twitter users to

follow using content and collaborative filtering approaches.In Proceedings of the fourth

ACM conference on Recommender systems (pp. 199-206).ACM.

Internet World Statistics, 2010.United States Internet and Facebook User Statistics.

Kushin, M. J., & Kitchener, K. (2009).Getting political on social network sites: Exploring

online political discourse on Facebook. First Monday, 14(11).

McClurg, S. D., & Holbrook, T. M. (2009).Living in a Battleground Presidential Campaigns

and Fundamental Predictors of Vote Choice. Political Research Quarterly, 62(3), 495-

506.

McCombs, M. (2013). Setting the agenda: The mass media and public opinion.John Wiley

& Sons.

Murthy, D., &Longwell, S. A. (2013). TWITTER AND DISASTERS: The uses of Twitter

during the 2010 Pakistan floods. Information, Communication & Society, 16(6), 837-

855.

Parmelee, J. H., &Bichard, S. L. (2011). Politics and the twitter revolution: How tweets

influence the relationship between political leaders and the public. Lexington Books.

Rachel K. Gibson, (2010). Open source campaigning: UK party organizations and the use

of the new media in the 2010 general election. University of Manchester.

Rainie, (2012).Social media and the 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections, Pew Research

Center’s internet and American life project.

54
Segolene Royal (2007) and Barack Obama (2008).Quaderns Del Cac 33, 27–34 (2009).

Shaheen, M. A. (2008). Use of social networks and information seeking behavior of students

during political crises in Pakistan: a case study. The international information & library

review, 40(3), 142-147.

Skoric, M. M., Ying, D., & Ng, Y. (2009).Bowling online, not alone: Online social capital

and political participation in Singapore. Journal of Computer‐Mediated

Communication, 14(2), 414-433.

Smith,(2011), “Social media and political campaign” University of Tennessee –Knoxville.

Sponcil and Gitimu. (2012), “Use of social media by college students: Relationship to

communication and self-concept “Journal of Technology Research.

Verger, M., Herman, L., &Sams, S. (2013). Online social networks and micro-blogging in

political campaigning: The exploration of a new campaign tool and a new campaign

style. Party Politics, 19(3), 477-501

Vickery, A., & Vickery, B. C. (2004). Information science in theory and practice. Walter de

Gruyter.

Wasswa, H. W. (2013). The role of social media in the 2013 presidential election campaigns

in Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).

Weaver, D., McCombs, M., & Shaw, D. L. (1998). International trends in agenda-setting

research. In Wie die Medien die Welt erschaffen und wie die Menschen

darinleben (pp. 189-203). VS VerlagfürSozialwissenschaften.

55
Webster, F. (2014). Theories of the information society. Routledge

Westling, M. (2007).Expanding the public sphere: The impact of Facebook on political

communication. The New Vernacular.

Wigand, Lim and Agarwal, (2012).Online Collective Action and the Role of Social Media in

Mobilizing Opinions: A Case Study on Women’s Right-to-Drive Campaigns in Saudi

Arabia.

Williams and Gulati, (2009), “Facebook grow up: An empirical Assessment of its role in the

2008 Congressional Elections” Bentley University.

Williams & Gulati, G. (2008). What is a social network worth? Facebook and vote share in

the 2008 presidential primaries. American Political Science Association.

Zhang, W., Johnson, T. J., Seltzer, T., &Bichard, S. L. (2009). The revolution will be

networked: The influence of social networking sites on political attitudes and

behavior. Social Science Computer Review.

Websites

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media,

retrieval date: March 25, 2015.

http://thesocialmediamonthly.com/how-social-media-has-changed-politics-its-not-just-tactics,

retrieval date: March 03, 2015.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/CampaignsElections/tp/How-Social-Media-Has-Changed-Politics,

retrieval date: March 23, 2015.

56
http://source.southuniversity.edu/political-campaigns-and-social-media-tweeting-their-way-into-

office, retrieval date: March 25, 2015.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/youtube-politics_n_3958533.html,retrieval date: March

25,2015.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/youtube-politics_n_3958533.html, retrieval date: March

25, 2015.

http://source.southuniversity.edu/political-campaigns-and-social-media-tweeting-their-way-into-

office, retrieval date: March 25, 2015.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/CampaignsElections/tp/How-Social-Media-Has-Changed Politics.

html, retrieval date: March 25, 2015.

http://thesocialmediamonthly.com/how-social-media-has-changed-politics-its-not-just-tactics,

retrieval date: March 25, 2015.

http://epthinktank.eu/2014/02/12/the-role-played-by-social-media-in-political- participation-

and-electoral-campaigns, retrieval date: March 25, 2015.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media,

retrieval date: March 25, 2015.

http://prq.sagepub.com/content/56/4/449.abstract, retrieval date: March 23, 2015.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/543529/by-the-numbers-facebook-in-pakistan, retrieval date: March 19,

2015.

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats26.html.retrived, retrieval date: March 18, 2015.

57
www.usnews.com/opinion/.../barack-oama-and-the-Facebook-election, retrieval date: March

03, 2015.

http://socialmediainpolitics.blogspot.com, retrieval date: March 03, 2015.

58
 ANNEXURE A
This is a questionnaire for an academic study on the impact of social media use on voting
behavior of youth during Pakistan General Elections (2013). The information that you provide
here will be held in utmost confidentiality and will be used for purposes of this study only.
Please tick in the box or fill in your response where applicable.
Demographics

Gender: 1. Male ____________ 2. Female _______________

Age : 1. Less than 24 ____________ 2. 24 and Above _____________

Education: 1. Undergraduate _____ 2. Graduation and Above ________

Q.1: How much time do you spend on using the following social media?
Less than 1 hour 1 hour More than 1 hour
Face book
Twitter
MySpace
Q.2: For what purpose do you use social media?
Entertainment____________ Education _____________ Information______________
Q.3: How frequently do you get exposed to the following social media for political purpose?
Very Frequently Some what Rarely Never
frequently
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Q.4: How much interest do you take in the following social media political content?
Very much Much Somewhat Rarely Not at all
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Q.5: To what extent are you satisfied with the political content of the following social
media?
Very much Much Some what Rarely Not at all
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace

59
Q.6: How much political information do you get from the following social media content?
Very much Much Some what Rarely Not at all
Posts
Pages
Comments
Pictures
Tweets

Q.7: Do you agree that following social media motivate the users to practically take part in
political activities?
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace

Q.8: To what extent do you think that social media can bring change in political attitude of
the voter?
Very much Much Some what Rarely Not at all

Q.9: To what extent do you practically participate in the following political activities?
Very much Much Some what Rarely Not at all
Processions
Seminars
Rallies
Corner Meetings
Vote casting

Q.10: In your opinion, from social media how much information do you acquire about the
following political parties regarding?
PML (N) Very much Much Some what Rarely Never
Party leaders
Manifesto
Candidate
Slogans
Songs

60
 PPP Very much Much Some what Rarely Never
Party leaders
Manifesto
Candidate
Slogans
Songs

PTI Very much Much Some what Rarely Never

Party leaders
Manifesto
Candidate
Slogans
Songs

Other
Very much Much Some what Rarely Never

Party leaders
Manifesto
Candidate
Slogans
Songs
Q.11: To what extent have you shared political information acquired from social media
with the following?
Very much Much Some what Rarely Not at all
Class fellows
Friends
Family members
Neighbors
Q.12: To what extent do you think that the information acquired from the following social
media influenced your voting decision during general election 2013?
Very much Much Some what Rarely Not at all
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace

61
Q.13: Have you voted in General Election 2013?
Yes No
Provincial assembly
National assembly

Q.14: To what extent do you think that social media have brought change in your voting
behavior during General Elections 2013?
Very much Much Some what Rarely Not at all

62