University education and political cyberactivism: An analysis of university students in Ibero-America

Internet, and especially social networks, offer opportunities in to articulating citizen participation in a context of widespread political disaffection. Among the citizens who use new technologies to get involved politically, young people stand out. These group, so called digital natives, largely lead the use of the network for political purposes. Among them, those who attend university studies could have attitudes and skills that further favor cyberactivism. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the conditions that favor the digital participation of university students. The main of this study is to examine this issue from an empirical approach with a comparative nature. Methodology: A survey was carried out among university students in a wide sample of Ibero-American countries, specifically in Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico and Peru. With the data obtained, a univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis is carried out, which allows us to examine the breadth and intensity of cyberactivism carried out by young Ibero-American university students and the factors that condition it. Results: As main findings, it should be noted that digital participation varies between different national contexts, with common conditioning factors being the consumption of digital media, non-electoral political participation, and political efficacy. Therefore, the cyberactivism carried out by young university students is conditioned by their digital skills, their offline political behavior, and their political attitudes. Contribution: This article analyzes for the first time the cyberactivism of university students in different Ibero-American countries, identifying if the factors that condition it are common at a comparative level or if there are strictly national influences.