Generation Z’s Digital Civic Engagement and Welfare-Oriented Participation: Evidence from an Indonesian University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70211/wesw.v3i2.512Keywords:
Generation Z, Digital Literacy, Civic Engagement, Social Welfare, Political ParticipationAbstract
Generation Z students increasingly encounter public issues through digital media, yet the extent to which awareness becomes sustained civic and welfare-oriented participation remains unclear. This study maps media use, information trust, welfare concern, and political participation among 922 students aged 17–25 years at the University of North Sumatra, Indonesia. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was complemented by short semi-structured interview notes used only for contextual interpretation. Social media was the most frequently used source of socio-political information (78.2%) and the most trusted source (48.9%), while official government websites retained substantial trust (39.6%). Education and health were the most frequently accessed public-interest topics (53.7% each), followed by economic issues (51.0%). Fundraising was the most common welfare-oriented action (49.1%), but only 26.4% reported regular social participation. Voting was reported by 66.5% of respondents; in contrast, direct roles in political parties or campaigns were uncommon. The findings identify a concern-to-participation gap: students are digitally connected, welfare attentive, and communicatively engaged, but their engagement is episodic and weakly institutionalized. Universities should combine critical digital literacy, service-learning, student-led welfare projects, and safe deliberative spaces to convert issue awareness into sustained democratic participation.
References
[1] S. Boulianne, “Twenty years of digital media effects on civic and political participation,” Commun. Res., vol. 47, no. 7, pp. 947–966, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650218808186
[2] Y. Theocharis and J. W. van Deth, “The continuous expansion of citizen participation: A new taxonomy,” Eur. Polit. Sci. Rev., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 139–163, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773916000230
[3] M. Saud and H. Margono, “Indonesia’s rise in digital democracy and youth’s political participation,” J. Inf. Technol. Politics, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 443–454, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2021.1900019
[4] M. Saud, R. Ida, A. Abbas, A. Ashfaq, and A. R. Ahmad, “The social media and digitalization of political participation in youths: An Indonesian perspective,” Society, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 83–93, 2020. https://doi.org/10.33019/society.v8i1.160
[5] R. Ray, “Online news platforms still matter: Generational news consumption patterns during the 2020 presidential election,” Online Media Glob. Commun., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 329–350, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1515/omgc-2023-0012
[6] C. C. Stahl and I. Literat, “#GenZ on TikTok: The collective online self-portrait of the social media generation,” J. Youth Stud., vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 925–946, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2022.2053671
[7] H. Reinikainen, J. T. Kari, and V. Luoma-aho, “Generation Z and organizational listening on social media,” Media Commun., vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 185–196, 2020. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2772
[8] I. Palomo-Domínguez, R. Elías-Zambrano, and V. Álvarez-Rodríguez, “Gen Z’s motivations towards sustainable fashion and eco-friendly brand attributes: The case of Vinted,” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 11, Art. no. 8753, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118753
[9] M. Agrawal, P. Kalia, P. Nema, A. Zia, K. Kaur, and H. B. John, “Evaluating the influence of government initiatives and social platforms on green practices of Gen Z: The mediating role of environmental awareness and consciousness,” Clean. Responsible Consum., vol. 8, Art. no. 100109, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100109
[10] J. Davis and J. L. Hart, “Role of social media in adolescent-parent relationships among at-risk youths,” J. Soc. Behav. Health Sci., vol. 17, no. 1, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5590/JSBHS.2023.17.1.13
[11] G. Mascheroni, J. Vincent, and E. Jimenez, “‘Girls are addicted to likes so they post semi-naked selfies’: Peer mediation, normativity and the construction of identity online,” Cyberpsychology, vol. 9, no. 1, 2015. https://doi.org/10.5817/cp2015-1-5
[12] N. E. Zárate-Alva and J. Sala-Roca, “Socio-emotional skills of girls and young mothers in foster care,” Child. Youth Serv. Rev., vol. 100, pp. 50–56, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.036
[13] P. Talukder and S. Tanvir, “The role of social media towards fomenting radicalization among youth in Bangladesh,” Simulacra, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 71–83, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21107/sml.v5i2.16893
[14] D. Arya and M. Henn, “The impact of economic inequality and educational background in shaping how non-activist ‘standby’ youth in London experience environmental politics,” Educ. Rev., vol. 75, no. 1, pp. 93–114, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.2007051
[15] M. Kitanova, “Youth political participation in the EU: Evidence from a cross-national analysis,” J. Youth Stud., vol. 23, no. 7, pp. 819–836, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1636951
[16] S.-H. Ting and S. S. Wan Ahmad, “Everyday interactions and political participation of Malaysian youth,” J. Youth Stud., vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 616–635, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1923672
[17] M. Ritts and R. Rutt, “Growing up sustainable? Politics of race and youth in Urbanplan, Copenhagen,” Urban Geogr., vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 631–651, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2023.2225930
[18] M. Amin and A. D. Ritonga, “Populist student organizations in Indonesia: An analysis of anti-establishment ideas,” Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun., vol. 10, no. 1, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01697-9
[19] Y. Hidayah, S. Sapriya, C. Darmawan, and E. Malihah, “Social protest in political communication in the digital era through civic communities among university students,” J. Stud. Komun., vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 220–237, 2020. https://doi.org/10.25139/jsk.v4i1.1964
[20] H. P. Yolanda and U. Halim, “Online political participation of Generation Z in the 2019 Indonesian presidential election,” Coverage: J. Strateg. Commun., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 30–39, 2020. https://doi.org/10.35814/coverage.v10i2.1381
[21] R. Setiyowati, A. Alfiandra, and E. Nurdiansyah, “Political education for Generation Z in the disruption era,” Bhineka Tunggal Ika, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 94–98, 2022. https://doi.org/10.36706/jbti.v9i1.17687
[22] M. W. Andolina, “Youth, generations, and generational research,” Polit. Sci. Q., vol. 139, no. 2, pp. 281–293, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/psquar/qqad079
[23] T. Erlina, “The role of Indonesian student and student-pupil action alliances in the national leadership transition, 1965–1968,” J. Wahana Pendidik., vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 95–105, 2020. https://doi.org/10.25157/wa.v7i1.3253
[24] I. Savolainen et al., “Online relationships and social media interaction in youth problem gambling: A four-country study,” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 17, no. 21, Art. no. 8133, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218133
[25] L. Aggeborn, N. Lajevardi, and P. Nyman, “Disentangling the impact of civil association membership on political participation: Evidence from Swedish panel data,” Br. J. Polit. Sci., vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 1773–1781, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123419000772
[26] A. Buzogány, “Civic engagement, political participation and the radical right in Central and Eastern Europe,” Party Polit., vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 35–45, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819863630
[27] M. Nur Cahya, W. Ningsih, and A. Lestari, “The impact of social media on adolescent psychological well-being: A review of anxiety and depression,” J. Sos. Teknol., vol. 3, no. 8, pp. 704–706, 2023. https://doi.org/10.59188/jurnalsostech.v3i8.917
[28] E. Weyant, “Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, 5th edition,” J. Electron. Resour. Med. Libr., vol. 19, no. 1–2, pp. 54–55, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/15424065.2022.2046231
[29] J. Lindley, “Making design research work by flourishing through disappearance,” in Design and Displacement, 2023. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003399568-19
[30] Y. M. Jung, “Data analysis in quantitative research,” in Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_109
[31] K. K. Strunk and M. Mwavita, Design and Analysis in Educational Research Using Jamovi. Routledge, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003154297
[32] U. Flick, Doing Triangulation and Mixed Methods. SAGE, 2018. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529716634
[33] F. A. Nasution, M. I. K. Saraan, and A. Ramadhan, “Political artifacts from the Jakarta International Stadium as local leadership impression management,” Res. J. Adv. Humanit., vol. 5, no. 3, 2024. https://doi.org/10.58256/qzk7gk14
[34] I.-H. Ting and C. S. Yen, “Towards automatically generated content websites based on content classification and auto-article generation,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Future Internet Technol., 2021. https://doi.org/10.1145/3487351.3488414
[35] G. Pérez Rodríguez and A. V. Romanini, “The role of television journalism in the production of political narratives,” Braz. J. Res., vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 64–91, 2022. https://doi.org/10.25200/bjr.v18n1.2022.1398
[36] I. Lancel G., N. P. Cruz, T. C. B. Luzaran, and J. E. E. Antonio, “Gen Z and TV: An analysis of traditional advertising medium and perception,” Millenn. J. Humanit. Soc. Sci., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 50–67, 2022. https://doi.org/10.47340/mjhss.v3i2.6.2022
[37] E. Mustika Wanda, “The influence of digital literacy on Generation Z’s social interaction in the era of scientific and technological advancement,” J. Sos. Teknol., vol. 3, no. 12, pp. 1035–1042, 2024. https://doi.org/10.59188/jurnalsostech.v3i12.1078
[38] R. A. Saragih and T. Patrianti, “Virtual event management of Detik.com’s ‘Siap Kuliah’ during the COVID-19 pandemic,” J. Bincang Komun., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 7–13, 2023. https://doi.org/10.24853/jbk.1.1.2023.7-13
[39] A. M. Saraswati and A. W. Nugroho, “Financial planning and management among Generation Z during COVID-19 through financial literacy strengthening,” Warta LPM, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 309–318, 2021. https://doi.org/10.23917/warta.v24i2.13481
[40] S. E. Garini and Z. M. Z. Monggilo, “Survey of millennial and Generation Z responses to native advertising trends in online news portals,” J. Komun. Glob., vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 300–322, 2022. https://doi.org/10.24815/jkg.v11i2.28416
[41] C. A. Putri, I. Sahputra, and R. Razif, “Design of a data-collection information system for regional statistics needs at the Lhokseumawe Statistics Office,” Sisfo, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 83–91, 2024. https://doi.org/10.29103/sisfo.v8i1.18151
[42] F. H. Lubis, F. A. Nasution, and R. H. Harahap, “The commodification of religious rituals: Representations of political actors in Indonesian elections,” Pharos J. Theol., vol. 105, no. 2, 2024. https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.105.214
[43] M. W. Husni and H. Harmanto, “Efforts of the Tuban Regency General Election Commission to increase public political participation,” Kajian Moral dan Kewarganegaraan, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 374–388, 2021. https://doi.org/10.26740/kmkn.v9n2.p374-388
[44] A. S. Istiningtyas, “Sexual violence on campus from a human-rights perspective,” IJouGS: Indones. J. Gend. Stud., vol. 2, no. 2, 2021. https://doi.org/10.21154/ijougs.v2i2.3521
[45] M. J. Phillips, “Towards a social constructionist, criticalist, Foucauldian-informed qualitative research approach: Opportunities and challenges,” SN Soc. Sci., vol. 3, no. 10, Art. no. 175, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00774-9
[46] G. Polizzi, “Digital literacy and strategic (dis)engagement: Examining how functional and critical digital literacy shapes participation,” Inf. Commun. Soc., vol. 28, no. 14, pp. 1–20, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2025.2452282
[47] M. Y. Maulana and A. A. Milanti, “A systematic literature review on civic engagement programs through citizenship education,” J. Civics, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 341–358, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21831/jc.v20i2.66024
[48] M. Kops, C. Schittenhelm, and S. Wachs, “Young people and false information: A scoping review of responses, influential factors, consequences, and prevention programs,” Comput. Hum. Behav., vol. 169, Art. no. 108650, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108650
[49] M. Mužík, J. Šerek, and D. S. Juhová, “The effect of civic engagement on different dimensions of well-being in youth: A scoping review,” Adolesc. Res. Rev., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–18, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-024-00239-x
[50] C. Terhorst, “The everyday civic engagement of social work students,” Soc. Work Educ., 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2024.2308681
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Tengku Irmayani, Lina Sudarwati, Rio Sinaga
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.