Social media and political engagement in Thailand: A qualitative analysis of political attitudes, motivation, and participation
คำสำคัญ:
social media, political attitudes, political motivation, political participation, Thailandบทคัดย่อ
This study examines the role of social media in shaping political attitudes, motivation, and participation in Thailand. As digital platforms have become more deeply integrated into political communication and public discourse, it is essential to study how individuals engage with political information online. This research employs a qualitative approach, utilizing in-depth interviews with 18 key informants from various occupational and social backgrounds, and applies inductive thematic analysis to uncover emerging patterns in the data. The findings indicate that social media has transformed from a platform mainly for entertainment into an essential medium for obtaining political information and keeping track of affairs. Most participants indicated that they used social media not only to consume political content but also to assess government performance and analyze socio-political conditions. The study identifies various forms of political participation. These range from cautious observation and self-censorship among groups that are sensitive to risk, to active information sharing and public knowledge dissemination among individuals who are more engaged. In addition, the findings suggest that political motivation is influenced by a mix of economic concerns, professional responsibilities, and civic values, especially those associated with social justice and democratic principles. Many participants demonstrated hybrid political participation, effectively connecting online engagement with offline civic action. This study enhances the understanding of Thai political behavior by defining social media as a type of “political infrastructure” that facilitates everyday political engagement. It further advances understanding by emphasizing the layered nature of political motivation across social groups and the development of hybrid participation patterns in the digital era.
เอกสารอ้างอิง
Bolsen, T., & Palm, R. (2019). Motivated reasoning and political decision-making. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.923.
Fayomi, O., & Adebayo, G. (2018). Political participation and political citizenship. In B. Turner (Ed.), Political citizenship (pp. 537–551). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95232-8_32.
Figgou, L., & Chryssochoou, X. (2019). Introduction: Political psychology in an ‘anti’-politics era. The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 24(2), 9–14. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.24914.
Gil de Zúñiga, H., Molyneux, L., & Zheng, P. (2014). Social media, political expression, and political participation: Panel analysis of lagged and concurrent relationships. Journal of Communication, 64(4), 612–634. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12103.
Hoewe, J., & Peacock, C. (2020). The power of media in shaping political attitudes. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 19–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.11.005.
Jost, J. T., Barberá, P., Bonneau, R., Langer, M., Metzger, M., Nagler, J., Sterling, J., & Tucker, J. A. (2018). How social media facilitates political protest: Information, motivation, and social networks. Political Psychology, 39, 85–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12478.
Kim, H., Kim, Y., & Lee, D. (2020). Understanding the role of social media in political participation: Integrating political knowledge and bridging social capital from the social cognitive approach. International Journal of Communication, 14, 565–573. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/12711.
Martella, A., & Bracciale, R. (2022). Populism and emotions: Italian political leaders’communicative strategies to engage Facebook users. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 35(1), 65–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2021.1951681.
Pennington, N., & Winfrey, K. L. (2021). Engaging in political talk on Facebook: Investigating the role of interpersonal goals and cognitive engagement. Communication Studies, 72(1), 100–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2020.1819844.
Rathnayake, C., & Winter, J. S. (2021). Do platforms favour dissidents? Characterizing political actor types based on social media uses and gratifications. Human Systems Management, 40(2), 249–263. https://doi.org/10.3233/HSM-200888.
Rauniar, R., Rawski, G., Salazar, R., & Hudson, D. (2019). User engagement in social media: Empirical results from Facebook. International Journal of Information Technology and Management, 18, 362–388. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJITM.2019.10024389.
Schreiber, J. B., Nora, A., Stage, F. K., Barlow, E. A., & King, J. (2006). Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(6), 323–338. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOER.99.6.323-338.
Sindermann, C., Rozgonjuk, D., Kannen, C., & Montag, C. (2021). How many dimensions underlie political attitudes? An exploratory graph analysis approach. OSF Preprint. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/98rhs.
Theocharis, Y., Boulianne, S., Koc-Michalska, K., & Bimber, B. (2022). Platform affordances and political participation: How social media reshape political engagement. West European Politics, 46, 788–811. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2022.2087410.
Valenzuela, S., Halpern, D., Katz, J., & Miranda, J. (2019). The paradox of participation versus misinformation: Social media, political engagement, and the spread of misinformation. Digital Journalism, 7, 802–823. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1623701.
Weeks, B. E., Ardévol-Abreu, A., & Gil de Zúñiga, H. (2015). Online influence? Social media use, opinion leadership, and political persuasion. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 29, 214–239. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edv050.
Zeng, X., McKenna, B., Richter, S., & Cai, W. (2019). How Social Media Can Afford Engagement Processes. In Themistocleous, M., Rupino da Cunha, P. (eds), Information Systems. EMCIS 2018. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, 341. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11395-7_23.
