Abstract
Student Participation in Social Media on Political Issues Concerning Candidates in 2016 Philippine Presidential Election
Loyd P. Alcasid, Ivanie B. Villacampa, Anthony L. Awa
Political candidates create their own social media sites to organize people and
gain support and votes. The biggest consumers of social media are the youth.
The participation of students in social media therefore has an impact on
the outcome of an election. This study aimed to determine the student
participation in social media on issues concerning candidates in 2016
Philippine Presidential Election. Survey method using questionnaire was
adopted in this study. Two-hundred college students of Misamis University in
Ozamiz City, Philippines were randomly selected as respondents. Facebook
was the most preferred social media for political issues, followed by YouTube,
Twitter, and Instagram, respectively. Social media showed that Rodrigo
Duterte appeared to be the preferred presidential candidate of students for the
2016 Philippines presidential election. Student participation in social media on
issues relating to presidential candidates was relatively less. The results of this
study may shed light on trends on social media use and behavior of voters
that may impact the election process and outcome.
KEYWORDS: impact, outcome, trends, votes, youth
View full text: PDF