Impact of Social Media Campaigns on Young Voters: A Study of Pakistan’s General Elections 2024

Abstract

In Pakistan, the use of social media for political purposes has greatly changed digital social communication. Spending their time and energy, the youth were the primary focus of attention during the 2024 General Elections. Over the years, this population has immensely risen and thereof, the General Elections 2024, reiterated the impact of social media on the political behavior of Pakistan's useful voters. Within this demographic, there is a strong belief that social media significantly makes youth more politically active and helps them vote. Surveys and quantitative descriptive techniques were utilized, focusing on city-based professionals and students. 200 individuals were purposefully selected electronically, and data was usefully analyzed with descriptive statistics and SPSS. The outcome of the data supports the implications of political advertisements on social media; voters were more inclined to use social media for political purposes. Whereas voters with more experience considered social media not for the purpose of making decisions, but more for information. Other than this, students and young professionals, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (now X) were named as the most common apps that influenced political activity and mindset of young voters. The focus of political parties on digital campaigning is still on the mainstream forms of social media.