The Relationship between Behavior of Social Media Exposure and Political Participation of People in Suratthani Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study social media exposure behaviors of political information, political participation and the relationship between behavior of Social Media exposure and political participation of people in Suratthani Province. The quantitative method was used for this research. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 400 samples. The data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and Pearson’s correlation. The results of this study showed as follows: The samples mostly were females aged between 20 - 29 years old, graduated in secondary education and worked as self-employed. The sampling population used Facebook on smartphone for accessing political information. The frequency of exposure was 3 - 4 times per week and they spent 31 - 45 minutes. Besides, the social media exposure of political content was medium level and the most exposure was political situations. The political participation on online social media spaces was at a low level and the most participation was information and communication. The political participation on offline spaces was at a medium level and the most participation was activity of politics. The results of hypothesis testing revealed that the relationship between the social media exposure behaviors of political information and the political participation on online social media spaces were positively correlated with high levels and the political participation on offline spaces was positively correlated with medium levels. In addition, the relationship between the political participation on online social media spaces and the political participation on offline spaces was positively correlated with the highest level with significance at the 0.01 level.