Young People’s Perceptions of Digital Activism: The Role of Tenor and Tone in Shaping Civic Dispositions

In what has been described as a ‘youthquake’ in youth activism, we have seen young people’s engagement with issues such as climate change, economic precarity and political exclusion. While significant scholarship has focused on digital activism and activists themselves, little attention has been given to how young people perceive activist content. In this article, based on data from 165 discussion groups conducted across six countries, we analyse how secondary school students interpret digital activism. Our findings capture how they express concern about the tone of activist messaging as well as actions perceived as overly radical, disruptive or damaging, online and offline. For the most part, students strongly believe activist messages should be primarily educational rather than contentious. We argue that how young people reflect on the digital activism they are exposed to is part of their political socialisation, shaping their understandings of social justice, civic dispositions and sense of citizenship.