The Impact of Social Media on the Political Interests of the Youth in Lebanon at the Wake of the Arab Spring

Across the world, youth are embracing the concepts of freedom of speech, right to opinion, and modern information technology in all its aspects and are trying to find use for it. The Arab Spring revolutions that began in 2011 and which are still ablaze reflect this fact. Lebanon is the most democrat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Maamari, Bassem E. (author)
Other Authors: El Zein, Hala (author)
Format: article
Published: 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10725/3554
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0894439313512777
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0894439313512777
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Summary:Across the world, youth are embracing the concepts of freedom of speech, right to opinion, and modern information technology in all its aspects and are trying to find use for it. The Arab Spring revolutions that began in 2011 and which are still ablaze reflect this fact. Lebanon is the most democratic country in the Middle East and North Africa region. The youth of Lebanon are adept users of web-based communication tools but are they eager to use this technology to connect with their political leaders? The results of this study show significant interest of youth in electronic-based communication with politicians. However, this interest may not be translated into material voting at the polls.