How does social media impact our relationship with the political sphere?

The alternative nature of social media compared to manufactured and regulated broadsheets/tabloids gives it a higher range of motion. It’s accessible yet more polarised online than ever. Despite being considered an alternative media source, it has become mainstream: Ofcom reported that “Social media is a significant component of online news consumption, with more than half of UK adults (52%) using it as a news source.” (Ofcom, 2024).

How does this link to the political sphere?

UNESCO acts as a intergovernmental organisation that regulates communications and democratic processes to ensure the best interests of the collective citizens in a country. Liberalised democracy dictates that free and fair media is a right during and throughout elections for a person to make informed decisions. If a government is regulating criticism too often, it breaches one’s right to freedom of expression.

“UNESCO contributes to guaranteeing free, plural and fair elections in times of disinformation.” (UNESCO, no date)

What does this mean for us?

Social media can be a vital key for people, especially young people, in accessing information and using their right to express themselves freely. My favourite example as of recent during election time would be where popular social media influencer GK Barry took to her social media to encourage people to vote in the 2024 election. She even launched a podcast, “The Turnout”, to discuss these issues and was quoted throughout the election. Especially during a participation crisis, young people find themselves in limbo – consuming the most social media. 98% of Gen Z use social networks, yet less than half of 18–24-year-olds voted in the 2019 UK general election (Morris, 2024).

Can social media disillusion us with politics – do we feel represented by politicians?

A concern could be that young people are blindly participating and relying on social media celebrities for advice. So, this could both inform and misinform depending on the social media star.

In the past it was a significant political and cultural phenomenon whereby the political and private spheres would intersect; a parent who voted Labour, for example, would pass this down to their child. Voting habits are generational, but this passing of the torch no longer occurs in the same way. We are bombarded with so many other social and cultural factors through social media that this fact is no longer relevant in the same way.

Kamala is BRAT? – memeing politics for engagement.

I think politicians have caught on to this. And there has been a surge of political rhetoric changing, whereby political parties face a “meme off” online and create opposition through pop culture. This is often to encourage engagement. Kamala Harris was at the forefront of this in the US, whereby popular singers and actors were using their social media to push Democrat support during the election. Famously, Kamala Harris was called “brat” in reference to the Charli XCX album.

Down the rabbit hole…

There are countless examples of how social media can create false pretences. AI poses numerous challenges, from the AI voice of Donald Trump to creating edits of politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Not only are we idolising politicians, but we are also creating false information. This then becomes a veil politicians can hide behind; it’s all just ‘fake news’! Although social media has brought us some phenomenal moments, such as the Trump and Musk ‘break-up’ that many were discussing,

It still all feels rather dystopian.

Let’s have a look at how social media has negatively impacted politics today. I know without social media my views would be different. Exploring the growing cynicism and political views people have towards one another when discussing politics online; it has only made us more polarised. This summer the surge in protest videos when it comes to ‘stopping the boats’. We have seen this in Southampton outside Highfield House Hotel and throughout larger cities like London.

[pullquote]We can all become ethnographers with just a click of a button.[/pullquote]

Niko Omilana recently demonstrated this in his YouTube video “I exposed racists in London” (Niko Omilana, 2025). In no way is this unbiased journalism, yet it uncovered some fascinating and terrifying realities of ‘political’ views of those in the UK, some going as far as to say they would hurt another person for their beliefs. In this way people can hide behind ‘political beliefs’ and policies like ‘stopping the boats’, yet when we look at social media, it is really just a political charade, by the ‘English Defence League’ to push a racist agenda. In this way social media can both spread misinformation about asylum seekers and uncover the true beliefs of those involved.

The future of politics

The decision to allow 16-year-olds to vote is a huge move towards the investment in the future of politics. Social media is used by a huge proportion of 16-year-olds in the age group 8-17 years old. 62% used TikTok in some way, according to Ofcom (Ofcom and Yonder Consulting, 2022).

According to Reuters, the concern for AI, deepfakes and misinformation was the highest for TikTok compared to other platforms.

“Worries about how to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy content in online platforms is highest for TikTok.” (Reuters et al., 2024)

Young people are consuming and using TikTok the most, and the platform has the highest concern for misinformation. Young people have also been enfranchised for the next election.

Drawing back to social media use as a tool in politics, especially for young people. Social media means wider access to information and opinions. We can electronically sign signatures to be debated in parliament. Similarly, fundraising for campaigns and chances to scrutinise government become much wider in scope to the everyday person. In 2020, amid scrutiny towards the conservative government regarding the formula for A-level results, young people protested in London and online, describing it as classist, as many schools in affluent areas benefited from previous successful A-level results. Meaning the individual was left with the government deciding grades for them that may not have been accurate. This kind of pressure online and in London led to a government U-turn (Weale and Stewart, 2020).

Our Relationship with our social media

In summary, critical thinking and awareness online is so important. Being tech savvy is a political tool for citizens to be well-informed and formulate their opinions. Engagement with social media and misinformation has to be led by ourselves. I am not immune I have seen many a video of an AI cat and thought ‘how cute!’. Translating this into the political sphere when does it become harmful to hear a fake policy come from a false Donald Trump or Keir Starmer produced through AI, the actual production of the video or audio may be for a laugh but then this being shared creates real life consequence. Social media cannot be avoided nor would one want it to be as it has helped with engagement in certain topics and is so vital for scrutiny of government. Yet media literacy has to be taught to young voters as well as older generations who may be even more vulnerable to false information.

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