This article investigates how media use differs across age groups- and whether this matters for people's inclination to participate politically. More specifically, the study investigates the impact of social media use for political purposes and of attention to political news in traditional media, on political interest and offline political participation. The findings, based on a four-wave panel study conducted during the 2010 Swedish national election campaign, show (1) clear differences in media use between age groups and (2) that both political social media use and attention to political news in traditional media increase political engagement over time. Thus, this study suggests that frequent social media use among young citizens can function as a leveller in terms of motivating political participation.

This article investigates how media use among young citizens differs from older generations, and whether this matters for their inclination to participate politically. More specifically, this study investigates the causal impact of social media use and attention to political news in traditional media, on political interest and offline political participation. The findings, based on a four-wave panel study conducted during the 2010 Swedish national election campaign, show a) clear differences in media use between age groups, and b) that both political social media use and attention to political news in traditional media increase political engagement. The results also indicate that both types of media use have a causal impact on political interest and offline participation. Thus, this study suggests that frequent social media use among young citizens can function as a leveller in terms of motivating political participation.