Facebook, the public sphere and political youth leagues in South Africa

Focusing on the Facebook presence of the African National Congress Youth League, Democratic Alliance Youth and Congress of the People Youth Movement as a collective case study, this article explores the following questions: is the Facebook presence created by youth leagues of the largest political parties an extension of South Africa’s public sphere? Can a citizen whose views are circumscribed by ideological auspices of a particular political party enhance the quality of the public sphere? What is the discourse of youth’s political deliberations in these forums? In answering the questions, the article argues that Facebook pages and groups are an extension of the public sphere as they attempt to get youth involved in politics in a technologically and socially transforming society; that as much as political party communication is propaganda and people tend to gravitate towards ideologies that conform to their world-view, party supporters on Facebook do challenge their political parties’ views; and that some arguments on Facebook enrich the public sphere discourse.