Meaningful Youth Engagement Through Media Usage

Abstract

Guided by the literature on youth engagement and media studies globally, this conceptual article examines the key engagement-related notions involving youth and media usage. A central argument of the article is that meaningful youth engagement can be considered a key concept in describing youth's use of hybrid media that reflects the diversity of youth populations and their media usage. Specifically, such media-involved youth engagement can be seen as an important meaning-making activity within youth's lives that can potentially build social and cultural capital, including through social relationships and youth-led political activism. Aligned theoretically with positive youth development (PYD) and social justice youth development (SJYD) frameworks, this article suggests that youth's hybrid media usage can be seen as a meaningful youth-engagement activity that can provide opportunities to promote skills/competences leading to positive development, and to address human rights and other social justice issues in an empowered, meaningful way.