Digital Interaction and Political Opinion Formation: A Parasocial Perspective

Abstract

This paper explores the connection between the social media use of young people and political organization and the development of political opinion in Pakistan by referring to the theoretical framework of the Parasocial Interaction Theory. Although past studies have to a great extent focused on exposure and involvement in digital political communication, little has been done to look at interaction as a relational process that affects political attitudes especially in the developing democracies. The research sample is a survey of 400 university students in urban and semi-urban areas, analyzed using the descriptive analysis, the linear regression, and the independent samples t-tests to study the direct impact of interaction as well as possible gender difference. The findings show that there is a highly significant positive correlation between political leader interaction and political opinion formation that is, the interaction has significant proportions of explaining the attitudinal outcomes. There were no significant gender differences and this indicates that digital political influence through relational mechanics is similar between male and female young people. By the parasocial interpretation, the results indicate that the repeated interactive engagement with political actors leads to familiarity, trust, and interpretive congruence, thus determining the political perceptions. Placing the process of interaction in the center of the interaction with politics, this research paper will help in advancing the field of the digital nature of political communication and applying the parasocial interaction theory to the youth politics in the Global South.