Maya Cueva on Thursday, Jul. 12th To hear the full interview
with Professor Joe Kahne, click on the player above. Youth might
not be going to the polls in vast numbers, but that doesn’t mean
they don’t care about making change in their communities, and in
the national issues that affect their lives. According to a
recent study by the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and
Participatory Politics, youth are actively expressing their
opinions on social and political issues through blogs and other
social media. This project defines participatory politics as
peer-based interactions like circulating political blogs, using
social networks to promote or discuss a social issue, or
creating satirical political cartoons. These actions can lead to
big social impact. Some examples of that impacted mentioned in
the study include the online petition to stop Bank of America’s
$5.00 debit card fee, and blog posts protesting and ultimately
defeating the Stop Online Piracy Act. With regard to politics,
young people respond bes