Social Media, Politics, and the Youth of the 21st Century in Noveleta, Cavite: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Method Study

The study investigated how social media affects political participation among young adults in Noveleta, Cavite, Philippines, during the year 2023. It utilized a sequential explanatory approach under mixed methods study to enable an in-depth investigation. The study used matrix-typed questionnaires through dichotomous and 5-point Likert scale to collect data for quantitative with 60 respondents aged 18-29 and semi-structured interviews for the qualitative part with ten (10) respondents from Noveleta, Cavite, Philippines, and was chosen through probability sampling technique to obtain respondents. The data gathered was handled using Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to calculate the average of the responses, using descriptive statistics and regression analysis and thematic analysis to analyze the qualitative data. The result showed that young adults in Noveleta, Cavite, Philippines, use social media very often and get exposed to political content online, but there are still other factors that affect one or both variables, so their relationship is not that strong. To sum up, the regression analysis showed a moderately significant but negative correlation between the two variables—Social Media use and Political participation.