Impact of Facebook in Political Engagement among Youth of Pakistan: A Case Study of Public and Private Universities of Lahore

Abstract

This study examines the influence of Facebook on university students' political engagement in Lahore, Pakistan, based on the principles of the Knowledge Gap Theory. Given the proliferation of social media, Facebook has become one of the leading forms of political discourse and mobilization, especially among youth. This research is interested in understanding how Facebook is being used actively and passively to understand political knowledge and engagement, and whether Facebook is widening or narrowing political knowledge gaps between various students with different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Using a quantitative cross- sectional survey design, data was collected from 400 students sampled from two public and two private universities in Lahore. The study examines the key variables of Facebook use, political knowledge, SES, political engagement online and offline.

The results of the study show that active Facebook engagement (i.e., commenting, liking or sharing political posts) was positively correlated with increased offline political discussions. Descriptive statistics demonstrated differences between SES in terms of students' knowledge and participation in political activities, with all students reported more knowledge and participation than lower SES students. Regression analyses demonstrated that Facebook activity of reading and reacting to posts predicted offline engagement but posting about personal opinions had a negative association with offline engagement.