NJOMACS

This research aimed to assess how social media impacts the political engagement of young people in Delta State during the 2023 Presidential election in Nigeria. The study was initiated due to the belief that social media may have both positive and negative effects when used by young people, particularly during elections or protests. The research employed a survey design. The sample size was 384, and the sampling strategies used were cluster sampling and simple random sampling. The analysis revealed that 53.6% of respondents spent over seven hours on social media during the election, with Twitter (now X) being the most popular medium. The implication as found was that youth’ participation in the 2023 general election in Nigeria was influenced positively by social media. Nevertheless, it was recommended, among others, that using social media for political participation in Nigeria should be done with decorum and restraint because of the nature of politics, especially, campaigns.