Social Media Use and Political Polarization: Political Engagement as a Mediator

Abstract

Social media, in the new millennium, has become a very effective tool of communication, information, and propagation regarding all social, religious, and political discourses that further lead towards ideological divisions. In the contemporary democratic world, the role of social media for political opinion building is obvious which is done by opinion leaders through political information and debates. The purpose of this study is to explore the social media use and political polarization among social media users. The survey research method was used to examine social media use for political engagement and political polarization. Private university students were selected as participants (n=350). The result was found positive which means that social media use is responsible for political polarization. Moreover, social media use is also a significant predictor of political engagement. In addition to this, the results show that political engagement is a mediator between the relationship between social media use and political polarization. The practical implications of the study have been discussed.