Title: Divergent views: social media experts and young citizens on politics 2.0

Authors: Anne Kaun, Carina Guyard

Addresses: Department for Culture and Communication, Sodertorn University, Alfred Nobels Alle 9, 141 89 Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden. ' Department for Culture and Communication, Sodertorn University, Alfred Nobels Alle 9, 141 89 Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: Political election campaigns often function as test sites for new communication technologies and strategies. Prior to the Swedish national election 2010, the Swedish public was dominated by a discourse on the revolutionising potential of new media for political campaigning and restyling of democracy. In particular, the participatory potential of social media was celebrated. |Confronting| the main claims of prominent Swedish social media handbooks with the perceptions of one important voter segment, namely students, this paper aims to present major contradictions characterising the present discourse on democracy 2.0 showing a tremendous gap between the potential voters and their actual practices.

Keywords: political campaigning; social media; politics 2.0; campaigning 2.0; e-democracy; young voters; youth; young people; electronic democracy; election campaigns; Sweden; e-participation; electronic participation; online participation; students; student voters.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2011.041710

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2011 Vol.4 No.1/2, pp.104 - 120

Published online: 30 Jul 2011 *

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