Isabela Flores and Olivia Davis were distraught over their classmates’ social media politics. Adam Chow and Blaire Messmann were on the receiving end of criticism from their own communities.
The North Texas teenagers all had one thing in common: Social media was the platform where much of the political action in their lives happened.
Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok have made it easier for teens to become politically active.
Recent events, most notably the Black Lives Matter protests that have continued nationwide since George Floyd’s death, emboldened many young people to use different social media platforms to make petitions, organize protests or to simply discuss their beliefs.
Cathleen Brooks, a Collin College sociology professor, said that with the development of new technology, more teenagers are able to participate in protests virtually.
“The current generation has developed self-efficacy, or the attitude that their actions, however small, are…
