The platformization of the public sphere leads to concentration and fragmentation, impacting freedom of expression, journalism, and the way public discourse is constructed and disseminated.

Critically understanding the platformization of the public sphere

Digital media use positively impacts youth engagement in civic and political life, with online political activities strongly influencing off-line participation.

Young People, Digital Media, and Engagement: A Meta-Analysis of Research

Digital media's positive effects on civic and political participation have increased over time, with social networking sites and online tools for political participation playing a key role.

Twenty Years of Digital Media Effects on Civic and Political Participation

Political polarization on social media varies across platforms, with Twitter showing homophilic interactions and aggravating positional polarization, while WhatsApp shows de-polarization over time, and Facebook being the least homophilic platform.

Political Polarization on the Digital Sphere: A Cross-platform, Over-time Analysis of Interactional, Positional, and Affective Polarization on Social Media

Digital platforms have disrupted society, transforming social and civic practices, and influenced elections, but public values must be negotiated and managed to protect them in a commercially driven ecosystem.

Governing digital societies: Private platforms, public values

Non-institutional digital platforms like "Nosso Mandato" and "Poder do Voto" aim to transform Brazilian politics by fostering direct digital democracy, truth-based advocacy, and constituent mobilization, but face economic and political barriers.

Technological progress and political systems: Non-institutional digital platforms and political transformation

Digital media has the potential to enhance democracy by fostering interactive and personal communication, but its impact on political discourses remains a complex issue.

Social media and democracy

Ideology, political initiative, and political career are key factors influencing the authority and influence of political actors in public debates on Twitter.

The Influence of Political Actors in the Digital Public Debate on Twitter About the Negotiations for the Formation of the Government in Spain

Social media and Web 2.0 technologies have profoundly influenced democratic processes, transforming political communication, participation, and activism, while also posing threats and opportunities.

Exploring the Implications of Social Media and Web 2.0 on Democracy: A Comprehensive Analysis

Digital technologies may incrementally improve democratic politics, but revolutionary and transformative models are less likely to occur due to political incentives and institutional constraints.

Six Models for the Internet + Politics

This paper proposes a methodological framework for social media analytics in political context, aiming to summarize and visualize politically relevant information from various platforms and scientific disciplines.

Social media and political communication: a social media analytics framework

Digital media platforms have a weak relationship with political engagement among university students in Portugal, revealing a pre-existing trend of low political participation.

A importância das Redes Digitais no engajamento político dos jovens da Universidade do Porto: Reflexão sobre a atividade e presença da política em Portugal

Digital communication technologies have both positive and negative effects on political participation, allowing for increased access to information and new forms of engagement.

The Influence of Digital Communications on Political Participation

Social media consolidation has transformed political information, introducing a hybrid communicative environment and challenging future research in this dynamic field.

Research on political information and social media: Key points and challenges for the future

Incivility and intolerance in online political discussions are associated with different contexts, with intolerance being more harmful to democracy in homogeneous discussions about minorities and civil society.

Beyond Incivility: Understanding Patterns of Uncivil and Intolerant Discourse in Online Political Talk

Youth participation in political activities, such as protests, through social media platforms strengthens democracy and contributes to the political structure of Indonesia.

Indonesia’s rise in digital democracy and youth’s political participation

Individuals' willingness to consider diverse viewpoints influences political polarization and echo chambers on social media, with winning majority support determined by campaign effort and opposing campaigns' ideological positioning.

Public discourse and social network echo chambers driven by socio-cognitive biases

Digital architectures of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat) significantly influence political campaign strategy and user behavior, as demonstrated in the 2016 U.S. election.

The Digital Architectures of Social Media: Comparing Political Campaigning on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat in the 2016 U.S. Election

Networked conversations about everyday rights and affective stories about shared experiences of injustice on social media platforms can emerge as viable forms of feminist activism and have real impact on the discursive status quo of an issue.

#IAmNotAfraidToSayIt: stories of sexual violence as everyday political speech on Facebook

The digital public square is evolving rapidly, but without wide-ranging engagement and new practices, it may fail to support democratic ends.

The Digital Public Square: Understanding the Dynamics of Data, Platforms, and News

The impact of digital platforms on the dynamics of political discourse and public engagement.

These studies suggest that digital platforms impact political discourse and public engagement by influencing freedom of expression, youth civic participation, political polarization, and democratic processes, while also presenting both opportunities and challenges in transforming political communication and activism.