The role of online social media in people’s political orientations and tendency to participate in presidential elections[Vloga spletnih družabnih medijev v politični orientaciji ljudi in težnja k udeležbi na predsedniških volitvah]

Abstract

The present study examines: (i) how online media (i.e. mobile applications, social media, and other traditional online media) influence individuals’ tendency to participate in presidential elections; and (ii) their political orientation (i.e. tending towards Principalist political groups and Reformist groups) in the relationship between social media use and political participation. Multivariate analyses show that only mobile app uses are positively related to the tendency to participate in presidential elections. The results also show that mobile apps and social media and traditional online media influence political orientation among a sample of Iranians that is considered, and that online media thus attracts people’s attention and adds to their tendency to support political reformist parties. © 2018, Ljubljana University, Faculty of Social Sciences. All rights reserved.