SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL DECISION MAKING

Abstract

This study was designed and conducted to determine the influence of social media on students’ political decision-making. This study was conducted at Central Luzon State University, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. The samples were chosen at random. The average age of the respondents is 20 years old and 67% were male. It was also revealed that the majority of the respondents are Roman Catholic. Respondents from each college are composed of 12% to 13% of the total population and more than half of the respondents do not have an affiliation with a student organization. The study revealed that all of the respondents use Facebook, hence, it is the most frequently used social media platform, as well as the frequently used social media to look up political issues for both Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates. Mobile phone or iPhone is the most frequently accessed to use social media. In this study, the hypothesis is rejected that there is no association between social media exposure and political decision making of Central Luzon State University students as the study showed that there is an association between Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram and the suggested political decision making. Also, the hypothesis is rejected that social media does not have an influence on respondents’ political decision-making. The study revealed that social media influences the respondents’ political decision making as most of the respondents are neutral about the political decision.