Youth

Abstract

<p><em>Political media use and talk about political issues are among the everyday contexts for youth political socialization and development. This entry provides an overview of youth media use and communication for political purposes. Youth is defined in the broadest sense found in the literature on political communication, covering the later stages of adolescence and emerging adulthood. This entry continues with an overview of youth’s informational uses of traditional (news) media and new media, followed by a summary of research evidence on political discussions with parents and peers, and in school contexts and digital media. This entry further explores how youth have adopted other forms of media for political communication purposes. Subsequently, the scientific knowledge about the effects of youth political communication is summarized. Finally, this entry concludes by outlining some potential future directions in the study of youth political communication.</em></p>