Social Media as a New Political Space: Youth Participation and Political Expression in Tripura.

Majendra Tripura

Social Media as a New Political Space: Youth Participation and Political Expression in Tripura.

Author(s)	Majendra Tripura
Country	India
Abstract	In the age of digital communication, citizens' interactions with politics, political institutions, and each other have changed significantly. Social media platforms – like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube and X – are increasingly playing an important role in political communication, political expression and civic engagement. These platforms offer a space for young people to get political information, to talk about public issues, to comment on political matters, to engage in political campaigns, and to link with political actors, while not relying entirely on traditional means of political communication. In a state like Tripura, which has a socially and culturally heterogeneous population, the transformation is especially important as youth make up part of the politically active population and questions of identity, development, tribal rights, autonomy and representation are important in the public discourse. This paper explores the new political domain of social media and youth participation and political expression in Tripura. The study is qualitative and analytical, with the main sources of data being secondary sources such as academic works, research articles, government and institutional documents, and relevant studies on digital political participation. The paper aims to describe how social media has created new possibilities for youth's political communication and participation in relation to three areas: (1) democratization of information, (2) speed of spreading political information and (3) creation of networks and alternative spaces for political expression. Digital political participation also poses challenges such as misinformation, political polarization, hostility in the online environment, echo chambers, and unequal digital access and the potential for manipulation. The paper concludes that social media should not be seen as a tool of democratic empowerment, but also not as a source of political disorder. Instead, it is a contested political arena which is democratic only when digital literacy, responsible political communication and inclusive access and critical engagement of young citizens are present.
Keywords	Social Media, Youth, Political Participation, Political Expression, Digital Democracy, Political Communication, Tripura, Tribal Youth.
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 9, September 2026
Published On	2026-09-17

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Social Media as a New Political Space: Youth Participation and Political Expression in Tripura.

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