ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION BY FEMALE VOTERS IN SUKKUR DIVISION, SINDH PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study examines the role of social media in shaping political participation among female voters in Sukkur Division, Sindh, Pakistan, within a socio-cultural context characterized by gender-based constraints and limited access to traditional political spaces. Grounded in the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) and the Civic Voluntarism Model (CVM), the research adopts a quantitative approach to analyze how different dimensions of social media usage influence political awareness, engagement, and participation.

Data were collected from 500 female respondents aged 18 and above using a structured questionnaire, and analyzed through statistical techniques including correlation and regression analysis. The findings reveal a complex relationship between social media use and political participation. While overall social media usage showed a statistically significant but negative relationship with political participation, exposure to diverse political content and frequent engagement with political information significantly enhanced political awareness among female voters. Additionally, interaction with political content demonstrated only a weak association with actual political participation, indicating a gap between online engagement and offline political action.

The study highlights that social media serves as an important informational and expressive platform for women, enabling them to access political knowledge and engage in discourse despite socio-cultural barriers. However, it also emphasizes that mere access to digital platforms does not guarantee meaningful political participation, as structural, cultural, and motivational factors continue to play a critical role.

This research contributes to the existing literature by providing a gender-specific and contextually grounded analysis of digital political participation, and underscores the need for strategies that translate online engagement into substantive democratic involvement.