- Title
- Youth responses to political party messages on Social Media: a case study of Rhodes University students during the 3 August 2016 local government elections
- Creator
- Pela, Noko Tshegofatso
- ThesisAdvisor
- Malila, Vanessa
- Subject
- Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes
- Subject
- Local elections -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Subject
- Mass media and young adults -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Subject
- Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- text
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68308
- Identifier
- vital:29237
- Description
- Rhodes University was awash with political tension and activity in the 2015 and 2016 academic years. The University had been the scene of radical protests and demands for change by students. The #RhodesMustFall, #FeesMustFall and the #RUReferenceList protests at Rhodes University started debates, conversations and public lectures amongst students and staff on and off social media on aspects of decoloniality, transformation, free education, issues of safety on campus and gender-based violence (Grocott’s Mail, 2015b). However, very little of this was reflected in the election campaigns of political parties and seemingly, in student engagement with political processes, at least as reflected in this election. The three biggest political parties in South Africa, and the only ones that contested Ward 12 (Rhodes) ANC, EFF, and the DA, were active on social media aiming to directly engage with constituents and draw citizens to the polls. All the parties had former and current Rhodes University students as candidates for councillor. There was a substantial engagement by students on social media, on the Rhodes SRC Facebook page, and on Twitter. However, only 39% of registered students, turned out to cast their vote on election day (IEC, 2016b). This study examines the interpretations and meaning-making amongst young people at Rhodes University, of the political party messages during the 3 August 2016 local government elections on social media. In addition, the study sought to understand whether youth at Rhodes (Rhodes University) actively sought out political party messages on social media (by following the ANC, DA, EFF Facebook and Twitter accounts), or were the messages incidental on their timelines (for example, following news organisations). Finally, the study sought to understand whether the media messages resonated with them and spoke to the issues faced by young people on the campus. The research used qualitative thematic content analysis and focus group discussions to examine the relationship between the content provided by the political party messages and the audience’s process of making sense and derived meaning from the content. Six focus group discussions were convened. This study found that young people are social media enthusiasts, they actively sought election related content on social media by following the Twitter and Facebook accounts of the parties, and from news organisations. Furthermore, the study discovered that, although, young people engaged with the political party messages on social media, they did not feel like the messages were targeted at them, and as such they felt the messages did not speak to them and the issues they face.
- Format
- 102 pages, pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Pela, Noko Tshegofatso
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RU School of Journalism and Media Studies
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