THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH PAPERS ON POLITICAL USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Political communication, participation, and governance have all changed as a result of social media's profound integration into politics. Research on social media's political effects in contexts of developing nations like Pakistan is still few, nevertheless. An inductive thematic analysis of previous empirical research on the function and impact of social media in Pakistani politics was undertaken in this study. The qualitative data corpus consisted of five peer-reviewed academic articles published between 2016 and 2020. The main issues relating to the political effects of social media in Pakistan were coded out of the articles. Six major themes emerged from the analysis, which were positioned within the theoretical traditions of media effects and political communication. In contrast to state-controlled traditional media, the findings indicate that social media offers Pakistani individuals, particularly young people, alternative outlets for political knowledge, conversation, coordination, and expression. Political engagement online seems to improve interest, effectiveness, and offline participation. However, in this hybrid media environment, concerns related to false information, polarisation, harassment, and uneven participation continue. The contextual understanding of the multiple effects of social media on political attitudes, behaviours, institutions, and power dynamics in Pakistan is advanced by this thematic synthesis. The research offers recommendations for further study as well as well-informed legislative and policy efforts designed to address this developing phenomena. Fostering egalitarian social media ecosystems requires holistic approaches that take into account both the possibility for emancipation and the realities of control.