Political Engagement of Social Media Users in Korea

Improving our understanding of social media users is critical in promoting social media as a means of communication and interaction between governments and citizens. In this study, I used a representative sample of the Korean population to examine the change of social media and internet use over time and by age cohorts and also the relation between social media use and engagement in political activities. I found that while the youngest are the most active users of social media, the largest gains were found among the people in their 30s and 40s and that practically no gains were observed among those in their late 60s and above. Moreover, I found that social media use was significantly associated with online political expression as well as participation in online and offline voting activities and that this effect and magnitude differed between active and inactive social media users.