DIGITAL ACTIVISM AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT OF PAKISTANI YOUTH ON SOCIAL MEDIA: A NETNOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION

Abstract

Social media platforms have embraced a critical role in the political landscape of the contemporary Pakistan. Pakistani youth as netizens use digital spaces to negotiate identities vis-a-vis expressing their political stances as an enactment of political engagement. Drawing on the theoretical framework based on cultivation theory, this netnography explores the interplay of social media and political discoursesand their influences on political sensibilities and engagement of Pakistani youth. For this purpose, virtual participant observation was conducted on various social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter along with in-depth interviews from young male and female Pakistanisbelonging to diverse age, educational and ethnic backgrounds. To further process the collected data, thematic and textual analysis techniques were employed. Thefindings of the study argue that social media platforms have become pivotal tools of political mobilizationand activism where Pakistani youth vehemently exhibit their political allegiance while confronting ferociously their
political opponents giving birth to a digital political niche. The discourses of financial corruption, accountability, morality, development, and patriotism are some of the prevalent themes of this digital culture generating cut-throat debates over social media platforms. Finally, the study suggests that a deep understanding of digital spaces is compulsory to understand the discursive construction of politics in Pakistan.