Virtual Collective Action and Spaces for Youth Participation in Nicaragua

Abstract

This work analyses the relationship between the social networks and the level of citizen participation. Specially, it explores if the civic participation of young people in Nicaragua is related to the uses of social network as a mechanism of virtual interaction and generation of spaces in the construction of a critical awareness necessary for the strengthening of democracy. For the study, is used a qualitative methodology, using the in-depth interview as data collection tool. The sampling was limited to theprocess of interaction of the participants, the richness of the information and the saturation of it, forming a final sample of 10 interviewers with leaders of movements in Nicaragua. The result of the research highlights the preference of the technological means, applications (apps) and virtual social networks to inform and share relevant content to political and social life, along with the young citizen’s disinterest in engaging in public affairs by conventional means.