Using Twitter to Increase Political Interest in Undergraduate Students

Abstract

This study examines the impact of using Twitter in the classroom on student political efficacy, interest, and engagement. Millennials use the virtual world to build social relationships and to obtain information. By envisioning the virtual world as a means to increase civic engagement, political science instructors can use technology to draw upon social networking, iterated interaction, and information sharing. Because taking political science and civics courses can boost civic engagement, students who are drawn to political science courses are more likely to already be interested in politics and have an increased knowledge. Therefore, what we demonstrate is that, while Twitter in and of itself does not independently foster civic engagement, employing it as a pedagogical tool taps into and strengthens the predispositions of students in political science classes, namely political interest and efficacy. Our results contribute to a fresh and much needed discussion in political science literature about ways to increase civic engagement of Millennials.