Communication, political party perception and voting
behavior of the people keep congenial nexus. Grounded on this bond, the main
purpose of this study is to analyze the factors that impact political party
perception and voting behavior of the people in Nepal from the perspective of
communication, particularly residing on social networking sites: Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube. In purposive sampling method perception level detailed
data were obtained from 333 respondents aged 20years and above just before the historic constitutional assembly election
in Nepal. A set of questionnaires including multiple choices and Likert scale
questions were provided to obtain the information. Drawing the coherent
substance from Technological Determinism, Social Judgment, Agenda Setting, Uses
and Gratification, and Habermas’s Concept of Public Sphere and Political
Campaign theories, the research explores the roles of social media in political
party perception and voting behavior. The results show that political interest
is positively related to political party perception and voting behavior, which
infer that political party perception is influenced by political interest of
the politician. The analysis also indicates that political trust is also
positively related to political perception and voting behavior, which shows
that political trust highly influences political party perception. Likewise,
religion and social media are also positively related to political party
perception and voting behavior. The study roots on primary source of data and
contributes to understand the impact of social media in the society and
politics.
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