Young Australian voters “do actually care” about politics and current affairs, Konrad Benjamin tells Guardian Australia. “Aussie punters are not disengaged,” he says. “Most of the corporate media and politicians just refuse to talk about the big, systemic things that are broken, and how we can fix them.”
The creator behind Punters Politics, with 400,000 followers on Instagram, is a popular source of information in the lead up to the federal election, according to responses to the Guardian Australia young voter callout. He is one of a lineup of independent commentators and journalists creating content on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch that people told us they are turning to for political information.
While most respondents to our callout indicated they rely on a mix of social media and traditional media for news, influencers and experts have observed a “moral panic” about the increase in young online creators engaging in politics.
For at least 20 years, young people have been moving away from formal politics – such as joining a political party or a volunteering organisation – and towards “issues-based” politics, says Prof Philippa Collin from Western Sydney University. Collin researches the role of the internet in the political lives of young people.
“It’s pretty common that it has been interpreted as young people not being interested ...
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