Everyday Democracy

Sep 11

1 min read

Everyday Democracy was a research project exploring how young people encounter, discuss and engage with politics and societal issues in their everyday digital lives, and what role news media plays (or not) in these situations. The project focused on 16–24-year-olds whose civic engagement largely takes place outside formal structures and institutions, particularly in social media, gaming communities and related digital spaces. The core question was: How can news media strengthen their role as a meaningful part of young people’s civic engagement?

The project used qualitative research with 17 participants aged 16–24.

Everyday documentation Participants shared screenshots, videos and links from situations where they encountered, discussed or engaged with societal issues, together with short reflections. Nine shared from social media and eight from gaming platforms or related gaming forums. Participants were also encouraged to share any relevant use of AI services. 138 examples were collected in total.
Light online observation Shared material was analysed in context, with additional observation of relevant open digital environments where needed.
In-depth interviews All participants were interviewed based on their own documented situations, exploring what triggered engagement, how conversations developed, what actions or reflections followed, and the role news media played.
Analysis Material was first analysed participant by participant and then across the group to identify recurring patterns. Claude Code and NotebookLM were used as supplementary tools to challenge the analysis and surface potentially overlooked themes. Final interpretation and decision was made by the project team.

If you want to access the final report (in Swedish), please request access to THIS document.