From social media to political action? Examining the role of influencers, news, and activism among youth

Social media is a central arena for political engagement among youth in Lebanon’s crisis-affected and polarized context. This study distinguishes active social media political engagement from passive news consumption in association with offline political participation among youth. Drawing on the Uses and Gratifications Theory, the Spiral of Silence Theory, and Resource Mobilization Theory, this study analyzes data collected from 450 Lebanese young adults aged 18–34. The findings divulge that social media influencers significantly enhance political advocacy but do not directly translate into real-life political participation. Social media news use is positively related to online political communication; however, it does not significantly influence offline political engagement. In contrast, social media activism and online political communication are significantly associated with real-life political participation, implying that active and expressive forms of online engagement are more likely to mobilize offline political action than passive news consumption. By distinguishing between different modes of social media engagement, this study contributes to ongoing debates on the online–offline participation nexus and challenges assumptions about the mobilizing power of social media news exposure. The findings bestow theoretical and practical insights for understanding youth political engagement in fragile democratic and crisis-driven contexts such as Lebanon.