Political socialization and family and social networks

The role of Internet in the political culture of young people in southern Brazil

Abstract

The Brazilian youth spends a significant part of their day connected to the Internet and their networks, both to seek information and to be entertained, which makes the Internet a socializing agent, just as family, school, and other media. The aim of this article is to analyze the impact of family and Internet use on the internalization of democratic values by young people in Southern Brazil. The methods used are quantitative, based on survey research and descriptive analysis of the data collected by nupesal/ufrgs, which involved, in 2015-2016, 2035 young people aged between 13 and 24 years old from the three capitals of the South of Brazil (Porto Alegre, Florianopolis, and Santa Catarina). The main results suggest that the political socialization of the youth is taking place not only by traditional agents, such as family and the school, but also by the Internet.