Use of new media (Twitter and Facebook) as a tool for raising political polarization among university students in Pakistan after the 2018 general elections

This thesis objects to evaluate the effect of political utilization of new media on political polarization among Pakistani university students and to ascertain the connection between New media use and political polarization. The theoretical framework of the thesis mainly relies on uses and gratification theory. Both quantitative and qualitative research designs are used as a mixed methodology for this thesis. Students at the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Punjab were the population chosen to conduct survey and semi-structured interviews. To conduct the survey stratified random sampling was utilized and a sample of 354 students was drawn using Selvin's formula. While 5 students were selected randomly to conduct semi-structured interviews. Descriptive analysis using SPSS software was done to analyze the quantitative data collected through the survey while the qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study proved that the utilization of new media platforms for political purposes plays an important role in raising political polarization among university students in Pakistan.