Denna studie går ut på att undersöka vilka mediekanaler unga förstagångsväljare använde sig av för att få politisk information innan och under riksdagsvalet 2010. Syftet är också att undersöka hur traditionella massmedier, som tidigare varit den dominerande källan för politisk information, står sig i relation till sociala medier i den fragmenterade medievärld vi lever i idag. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten är utifrån Uses and Gratifications-teorin samt tidigare forskning rörande förstagångsväljare och sociala medier. Metoddelen är kvantitativ i form av en frågeundersökning med gymnasieelever som läser sista året på gymnasiet. Datainsamlingen genomfördes i Sundsvall och Jönköping under december 2010.   Resultatet visar att unga förstagångsväljare fortfarande anser att de traditionella medierna, främst TV, är de viktigaste för deras politiska information. Det framgår också i resultatet att det politiska intresset hos unga ökar under valår. Vad gäller sociala medier som kanal för politisk information ansåg respondenterna att Facebook var den mest betydelsefulla källan för information.

This is a study about the relation between the Swedish school and the political system of Sweden. I wanted to see if the relation had changed since the election of 2010 as it was in that election the Sweden Democrats got over five percent of the votes and took seat in the Swedish parliament. The thing that is unique about this election is that it was really the first time a right-wing party had been elected into the Swedish parliament. Many experts argue that this is the first xenophobic party that has been elected into the Swedish parliament. This led to a problem for schools and their principals and a difficult question to answer because xenophobia is contrary to the school’s core values and the school’s democratic mission. Should the school still be open for political parties? How do schools manage to distinguish between political information and political propaganda? If parties still are welcome into the schools, which parties should be allowed? The equality ombudsman has said in a report that the schools have to comply with the principle of objectivity, which stipulates that the public sector has to be unbiased. I have chosen to make use of a qualitative method because I think the study then gets a deeper understanding of the topic. However, it does not provide the same opportunities for generalization as a quantitative method does with a greater range of participants. This study has concluded that Swedish schools are still open for political parties. They have not been scared to invite parties. Schools still arrange debates, and allow political information tables inside their buildings. The principals are of the opinion that the schools should be an open part of the society.

The purpose of this study is to examine if, and in that case how, students at Uppsala University are affected by their Instagram feeds and how that will influence the decisions students make in relation to a political election. In addition to this, we also intend to examine how students' perceptions of politics in a more global aspect may be affected by this. To answer the purpose, the following questions are used: - How can filter bubbles and echo chambers on Instagram affect students' opportunities to make well-informed decisions, especially in relation to political elections?  - How can students' Instagram feeds affect their perception of world politics? To receive the empirical material ten qualitative interviews are conducted. Based on the empirical material a text analysis is done. We used Jürgen Habermas theory of the Public Sphere and the theory of Selective Exposure. The result of the study is mainly that the echo chambers that exist in students' Instagram feeds have such a large impact that it cannot be claimed that they can make a completely well-informed decision. And that students' perception of the outside world gives them a more global enlightenment of the political events that take place in the outside world, while due to its filtered Instagram feeds they do not get a holistic view from all perspectives of the events. This result provides information about the effects that echo chambers and filter bubbles can have and it may be an explanation of the ongoing polarization in the global political climate.

Användandet av sociala medier ökar i samhället, både som källa till information men även för diskussion på olika plattformar. Politiska partier använder därmed sociala medier för kommunikation med potentiella väljare, men även opinionsbildare utan officiella uppdrag har idag möjlighet att sprida åsikter på diverse kanaler. Syftet med denna studie är att få ökad kunskap kring hur gymnasieelever får tillgång till politisk information på sociala medier och hur detta påverkar deras intresse för politik. Metoder som använts är en kvantitativ enkätundersökning och fyra kvalitativa intervjuer med gymnasieelever i Malmö. Resultatet visade på att gymnasieelever har sociala medier som deras största informationskälla till politik, men ej aktivt letar efter nyheter. Resultatet antydde även att gymnasieelever är kritiska till källor på sociala medier och upplever ett hårt debattklimat på diverse plattformar. Att gymnasieelever inte litar på källor och inte vill gå in i debatter på sociala medier kan möjligen bidra till ett minskat intresse för politik hos gymnasieelever. / The use of social media is increasing in society, both as a source for information but as a place for political debates. Political parties are there for using social media to communicate with potential voters, but also digital opinion leaders who does not work in the political area have the opportunity to communicate their opinions. The purpose with this study is to gain increased knowledge about how High School students get political information on social media and how this affect their interest in politics. Methods that have been used are a quantitative survey and four qualitative interviews with high school students in Malmö. The result shows that high school students have social media as their main source for political information, but that they don’t actively searching for it. The results also indicate that high school students are critical against sources on social media and experiences a rough debate climate online. That high school students do not trust in sources on social media and do not want to participate in debates could possibly contribute to a decreased interest in politics among high school students.

The local level of politics in Sweden has been described as strong in relation to similar levels internationally aswell as to other political and administrative levels in the national system. Despite this, the research has regularlyoverlooked important aspects of local politics throughout several decades. The purpose of this study is to begin toaddress the lack of research by studying electoral campaigns in the Swedish municipal election. Representativesfrom two local party organizations have been interviewed in order to identify campaign tools and strategies thatare prevalent in what is deemed two very successful campaigns. The two campaigns are compared and differencesbetween local parties and parties connected to the national level of politics are considered. To some extent thefindings of this study match those of previous research on the national level of politics. However, some of thefindings suggest the possibility of achieving greats results in local elections using low-cost campaign methods. Inorder to find stronger evidence for causality between a particular campaign activity and election results furtherresearch of more numerous cases is necessary.

This study delves into the influence of social media on the online political participation of young individuals. The research focuses on a sample comprising six students from diverse programs at Örebro University, employing a qualitative methodology centered on semi-structured interviews conducted with all participants. Subsequent to these interviews, a content analysis was performed to scrutinize the collected responses. The fundamental inquiries guiding this study were centered on two primary questions: ● How does online political participation vary among young adults whose social media feeds contain a significant amount of political information compared to young adults whose social media feeds contain little or no political information? ● To what extent are young adults exposed to unintentional exposure of political information on social media? This study reveals that online political participation among young adults is intricately tied to the degree of exposure to political information on social media. Those regularly exposed demonstrate increased interest and engagement, while those with minimal exposure show limited interest and participation. The findings underscore the pivotal role of social media exposure in shaping the dynamics of young adults' online political engagement. Further research is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing these dynamics