Social media use and political cynicism among German youth: the role of information-orientation, exposure to extremist content, and online media literacy

ABSTRACT This study investigates the predictors of adolescents’ political cynicism in the social media environment. Given that social media are one of the main sources of information for many young people today, it is crucial to investigate how and in which ways social media use is associated with political cynicism. To that aim, we use data from computer-assisted personal interviews of N = 1,061 adolescents between 14 and 19 years in Germany. Our findings reveal that relative information-oriented social media use is related to lower political cynicism, while exposure to extremist political content on social media predicts higher levels of political cynicism. Furthermore, although self-perceived online media literacy is negatively associated with political cynicism, it does not moderate the relationship between political cynicism and relative information-oriented social media use or exposure to extremist content. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings. IMPACT SUMMARY Prior State of Knowledge: Nowadays adolescents often express high levels of political cynicism, which gives reason for concern. Existing research suggests that the media as political socialization agent may both dampen or increase youth’s political cynicism depending on the content. Novel Contributions: We identify a lack of research on the role of social media use to explain youth’s political cynicism. To address this, we focus on two key predictors: the degree of information-orientation of social media use and exposure to extremist content. Practical Implications: This study has practical implications for educational interventions that aim at training adolescents’ understanding of political processes. The findings are also crucial for policymakers and platform operators who tackle extremism on social media platforms.