Research: Rethinking Platform Affordances: Digital Engagement and Youth Political Participation in Algorithmic Social Media
This study examines the relationship between platform affordances, digital engagement, and political participation among young social media users. While existing literature often assumes that technological features inherently facilitate civic and political engagement, this study challenges the notion of a direct effect of platform affordances and instead emphasizes the role of user practices. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected through an online survey of 100 young social media users and analyzed using multiple regression. The results show that platform affordances do not have a significant direct effect on political participation, whereas digital engagement emerges as a strong predictor. These findings indicate that active interaction with content, rather than the mere availability of technological features, plays a central role in shaping participatory outcomes. The descriptive analysis further reveals a gap between exposure and engagement: although users frequently encounter political content, their level of active interaction remains uneven. This suggests that exposure alone is insufficient to generate meaningful participation. This study contributes to the literature by proposing a distinction between affordance availability and affordance activation, highlighting digital engagement as the key mechanism linking technological environments to political behavior. By shifting attention from platform features to user practices, the study offers a more practice-oriented perspective on digital political participation.