The Role of Social Media in Millennial Voting and Voter Registration

The Role of Social Media in Millennial Voting and Voter Registration by Elesia Glover MS, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 2011 BS, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 2010 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Policy and Administration Walden University May 2018 Abstract The millennial generation has become the largest generation in the United States. Yet as more members of this generation reach voting age, their propensity to vote remains stagnant. For instance, in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, less than 50% of eligible millennials voted, in comparison to the 69% of baby boomers and 63% of Generation X. Voting is a civic duty essential to a successful democracy; therefore, it is imperative to find solutions to increase millennial political engagement. As millennials represent the largest proportion of users of social media, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships between voter registration and voting rates and social media usage. To provide clarification on the issue of millennial voting and voter registration, a conceptual framework was used to explore whether a connection exists between millennial political participation and social media because existing theory was insufficient to address this issue. Using secondary data from the 2016 Millennial Impact Report, 1,050 millennial survey responses were gathered on millennial social media usage, intent to vote, and voter registration. A 2 proportions z-test was used to conclude that there was no difference in voter registration and voting rates between millennials who posted 1 to 3 times per week and those who posted 4 to 7 times per week on social media. This study may promote social change by informing those who seek solutions to increase millennial voting and voter registration rates for the continuation of the American democratic system.The millennial generation has become the largest generation in the United States. Yet as more members of this generation reach voting age, their propensity to vote remains stagnant. For instance, in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, less than 50% of eligible millennials voted, in comparison to the 69% of baby boomers and 63% of Generation X. Voting is a civic duty essential to a successful democracy; therefore, it is imperative to find solutions to increase millennial political engagement. As millennials represent the largest proportion of users of social media, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships between voter registration and voting rates and social media usage. To provide clarification on the issue of millennial voting and voter registration, a conceptual framework was used to explore whether a connection exists between millennial political participation and social media because existing theory was insufficient to address this issue. Using secondary data from the 2016 Millennial Impact Report, 1,050 millennial survey responses were gathered on millennial social media usage, intent to vote, and voter registration. A 2 proportions z-test was used to conclude that there was no difference in voter registration and voting rates between millennials who posted 1 to 3 times per week and those who posted 4 to 7 times per week on social media. This study may promote social change by informing those who seek solutions to increase millennial voting and voter registration rates for the continuation of the American democratic system. The Role of Social Media in Millennial Voting and Voter Registration by Elesia Glover MS, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 2011 BS, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 2010 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Policy and Administration Walden University May 2018 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my grandmothers, Rose Marie Thomas and Alice Ruth Robinson. It is in their spirit that I know perseverance, excellence, determination, and persistence. In their spirit I found the motivation to create this document to share with the world. I thank the both of you for all you did for my family, laying a strong foundation so my family could in turn do for me. I am inspired by the lives you lived and the people you touched, and I honor your legacy through this dissertation. As I honor my grandmothers who came before me, I realize that their struggles have afforded me the opportunity to be one of the 1% of Americans with a doctoral degree. For the lives you lived and all the sacrifices you made, I say thank you, this dissertation is dedicated to you. Acknowledgments I want to thank my husband, Brian, for his unwavering support and encouragement during this process. Thank you for reading chapters and listening to me in frustrating moments. Thank you for being there as I worked through many sessions of writer’s block and chapter revisions. Thank you for picking me back up when I felt like I was done and could not write anymore. I am so thankful for your push in these final stages of the dissertation process. I also want to thank my mother and father, who have always been my biggest advocates for anything I wanted to accomplish. Thank you to my mother, who has always been a proponent of education, instilled early on as a family foundation. Thank you for your encouragement and reassurance that I could do this throughout this process. Thank you to my father for being my personal cheerleader in this endeavor. I love you all and could not have done this without you. I would be remiss if I did not send a huge thank you to my dissertation committee chair, Dr. Doug MacKinnon. Thank you for your guidance and leadership throughout this journey. Thank you for the phone calls, edits, and the time you have taken to be a part this research study. I appreciate your prompt feedback and encouragement along the way. You were an awesome chair and provided the needed to support to be successful in this process. I am also thankful for my committee member, Dr. Mi Young Lee. Thank you for the time you took to read, review, and respond to my many questions. I am thankful for your feedback, professionalism, direction, and support.