Gelisim News

Results of the research on young people announced

The result of the research conducted to reveal the social, economic and political preferences of young people between the ages of 18-30 has been announced. As a result of the survey, datas such as the fact that young people are not apolitical but have a social consciousness, take not voting as a political reaction, and prefer social media where they are free by not trusting traditional media are obtained.

Today, youth is one of the most important topics of politics, economy and social structure. Everything that young people do or do not do, their decisions, their consumption habits, their political attitude affects many results in daily life. In this sense, in order to present up-to-date and unbiased data in an impartial manner, Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) Public Opinion and Society Research Center conducted a survey among 400 young people between the ages of 18-30 in Istanbul. According to the results of the "Socioecopolitical Youth Research Report 2020", the new generation now expresses its political reactions differently from the previous generation, uses social media as a communication channel because they think that traditional media is not neutral and prefers not to vote as a political reaction.

“THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE EXTREMELY REALISTIC”

Stating that the prejudices such as ‘the new generation know nothing’ or ‘they don’t understand politics’ have disappeared as a result of this survey, Research Center Director Asst. Prof. Fırat Demirkol indicated that young people are aware of everything, and that they approach social events more realistically rather than emotionally. In his evaluation of the report, Demirkol said, “If we make a general evaluation, what we see in many topics is that young people are very realistic and they analyze by evaluating all aspects and share these analyzes. In fact, this is the biggest difference between previous generations. They don't want to shy away from their thoughts. They are aware of everything, they follow the agenda, they are politicized, that is, they act and react. It's just that their methods are different from previous generations. For example, they prefer to tweet instead of going out on the street and shouting slogans. Or, instead of being a member of a political party, they may express a political reaction by saying they will not vote. I think that the criticism on young people that they don't know anything has disappeared because they really know everything. They dominate the subject, they are aware of everything, they follow the agenda. Only now there is a different management process according to their generation and age.”

TRADITIONAL MEDIA IS NOT TRUSTED BECAUSE IT IS SIDED, THE SOCIAL MEDIA THEY FEEL FREE IS PREFERRED

Nearly 30 percent of the young people responded ‘I don’t watch TV.’ to the question "Which TV channels do you watch to follow the agenda?" Stating that young people do not watch TV because they find traditional media biased, Fırat Demirkol said, “Today, young people use social media extensively. They also see social media as a priority in terms of political preferences or the mechanism of getting political news. The biggest reason for this is that they think that there is a one-sided broadcast in relation to traditional media. Whichever channel they open, people only constantly defend their own opinions, there is no stretch in that. But young people do not want this too much, the area where they can express themselves freely is social media. There, they can write their own views, react to a social event, like it, get angry, and express it there. One of the most important issues is creating a public opinion on social media. This is actually the answer to the question of whether that changing youth is apolitical or political. They can influence politics and the agenda. Bringing a subject to the agenda and making it a trend topic has a great impact on all levels of the state and politicians. That's why we see that young people are able to express themselves freely there and that every opinion is supported or not supported on social media, and we see that they distance themselves from the traditional media a little in terms of seeing and evaluating it.”

THEY DON'T WANT TO VOTE FOR A POLITICAL REACTION THEY ARE NOT APOLITIC

The rate of those who answered "I will not vote" to the question asked in order to evaluate the votes regarding the elections was around 30 percent. Underlining that the reason why young people do not want to vote is actually a political reaction rather than an apolitical behavior, Demirkol said, “Actually, young people are quite political. That’s why, political means not just being a party. Young people are concerned with current and society problems. However, they do this differently than in the past, and they say that they will not vote, perhaps as a reaction to the current political conditions. In fact, this is not apolitical, but rather a political reaction. They do not say that they are undecided or that they do not understand, do not interfere, they just express the emergence of another alternative because they do not like the solution proposals presented in the current conditions. In other words, they want to say, 'I am not satisfied with what is offered, bring me other alternatives, then I can use my right to vote'. So they take a very political stance.”

NON-PARTY OPPOSITION AND VOTERS ARE COMING

Demirkol also stated that according to the results, the new generation is not blindly attached to any party, and said, “The generation that has come since the mid-1990s now looks at the world a little differently. In particular, they are a bit far from the political and political style of the 1960s and 70s. That's why we're talking about a non-party opposition or a non-party electorate. Because they do not move forward with an approach such as sticking to a clear ideology at that time or whatever a leader says behind his back is right or whatever the other party says is wrong. They evaluate the event by event and look at it on a case-by-case basis. One day they criticize a person or a party, the next day they criticize the other party. Being against someone because of an event doesn't make others say it's okay, then I'm going after the other one. In fact, we see this as one of the biggest differences from the past generations.”

THEY DO NOT BE EMOTIONAL, THEIR POLITICAL BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES ARE SHAPED ACCORDING TO THE ANALYSIS RESULTS

In the same way, Demirkol emphasized that young people do not behave emotionally in terms of political behaviors and attitudes, and that they are shaped as a result of analyzes by looking objectively, and continued his statements as follows:

"For the next process, those elected at any level of the state will not be comfortable saying, 'I am elected anyway, I have so many voters'. Young people can now change their decision according to the actions taken and what is said. Because if they are satisfied that day and not satisfied with what is done tomorrow, they do not say, "This is my party or my candidate, and I will support him/her until the end no matter what". They can change their decision according to the problems people experience or the problems in society. In fact, they make a real analysis. Hence, we can say that they do not act emotionally. In this sense, those elected will have to listen to the demands of the youth and society and respond to them.”

“POLITICIANS, MANUFACTURERS AND PARTIES NOW FACE MORE DIFFICULTIES”

Demirkol ended his general assessment of the survey results by saying;

 “The attitudes and behaviors of young people will greatly affect the next process. Political parties or companies now see that young people will greatly influence future processes. They are aware of that. We see them in political debates as well. Everyone cares and comments on young people. However, we see that young people can’t be understood with classical methods and their demands can’t be met. In order to understand young people, it is necessary to think like young people and understand their language. Young people are aware of everything. They are very interested in the world, there is now a world citizenship for young people. It no longer needs to be their problem for them to deal with a problem. If there is a problem in the society, young people show interest in it, they don't say 'it has nothing to do with me, I shouldn't get involved anyway'. This is actually a topic that should be taken into consideration by both commercial and political decision makers in the coming period, and it will also challenge them, because young people are involved in every subject. They want good decisions. In other words, instead of making a decision by saying that the pros are more than the cons, they turn to whatever is con, so the company that is elected, candidate, who wants to trade, who wants to get a share in the market, comes into our mix as a situation that will put a little more pressure on the people or political parties.”

Created Date: :   Monday, July 26, 2021