Shifting Culture and Minds: Immigrant-Origin Youth Building Critical Consciousness on Social Media

Abstract

This multi-method qualitative study explores how immigrant-origin (I-O) youth express civic engagement on social media, and how youths’ immigrant identities shape their online civic engagement. We analyzed 2,203 Twitter posts collected over a 6-month period from 32 racially and ethnically diverse I-O youth (an average of 69 posts per participant). Interviews with 11 participants supplemented Twitter analysis. Using a critical consciousness framework as a guiding lens, we identified three broad themes: Using Critical Reflection to Shift Culture and Minds, Navigating and Drawing on Multiple Identities, and Building Collective Political Efficacy. Findings contribute to a growing body of literature on how I-O youth are harnessing social media as agents of their own, and their peers’, critical consciousness development.