Where do the 20 somethings discuss politics? Millennial social media for politics?

[Eliot Rosewater]

It is painfully obvious the average age on DU is probably over 50, right!

What I know is the millennial generation has been turned on to politics, but might be confused about a few things so I was wondering where are they?

How do we engage them?

[melman]

1. reddit

[meadowlark5]

2. My oldest, who is late teens uses Reddit

He's pretty aware of current events. He uses twitter but not that much. It seems most of his forum type discussions are on Reddit which has a ton of sub-Reddits which are like the different categories here on DU to discuss different things.

[Eliot Rosewater]

5. I was worried that it was Reddit, I have heard it is a breeding ground for some real

bad stuff, lots of KGB bots, etc.

I dont have the energy to go there and explain the math to them, someone needs to. I dont mean that negatively, I literally have some issues that will keep me from doing that at the moment.

[meadowlark5]

9. The bots might concentrate on the sub reddits

My son ventures into them from time to time to see what's happening and he tells me there are some real sewer dwellers there. And some really stupid conspiracy people.

But they probably infiltrated the other forums. Why wouldn't they? They were everywhere else.

[Eliot Rosewater]

10. Hell, I ran into two of them on a youtube chat of a liberal online talk show.

When the 2nd one showed up and mirrored everything the first one was saying, I tried to point out to everybody there that they were actually dealing with actual KGB (FSB if you insist, ALL they did was change the name, NOTHING else) agents or bots.

What we need is a tutorial on how to know, in fact, gives me an idea.

[Marengo]

18. Why do you insist on using KGB? Its an obsolete term and its usage sounds, to be frank,...

Uneducated.

[cemaphonic]

13. Eh, there are some subreddits where stupidity reigns,

but the large political subs have a pretty heavily liberal community, and are already better at sniffing out bots and trolls than the typical DUer.

But the problem is (as always) that the people hanging out there are already politically engaged. Reaching the "politics just isn't my thing" types is hard because they are actively avoiding the subject, and view it as an intrusion. I think the best way to turn them around is still face-to-face through personal relationships.

[beachbum bob]

3. engage them in coffe shops, I often ask younger people their thoughts on some of the issues

to date, 0 out of 20 on supporting NRA AND gunownership without rules and guidelines...over past month

[hlthe2b]

4. off and on, I think DU has attracted some younger posters during its history

(especially during the Bush* years)... I think the infighting in Dem primaries dating back to Obama's first election and carrying through with the last election has hurt that.

Still, I DO wonder what our age distribution actually may be, though I agree that it likely skews older now.

[backtoblue]

11. I came here during the bush years

I was in my early twenties then. I happened across this site while researching. Senseless wars, killings, deregulation, tax breaks for the uber wealthy oligarchs, and the patriot act pushed me to educate myself.

[melman]

6. btw

They don't necessarily want to be engaged by you (or me) so if you're looking to set them straight on their 'confusion' that's probably a waste of time. Especially if you approach it like that..like you're teaching them something.

[AJT]

12. They don't need any "eldersplaining"

[LeftInTX]

7. I agree with Reddit

They are active on twitter, but with character limits it's more sharing than discussing.

Facebook. They are on Facebook. They are organizing March for Our Lives on Facebook.

They also have other local activism groups on Facebook. It seems they spend more time doing in a real life. Guess they have more energy.

[Eliot Rosewater]

8. I hope they have energy, I will see some of them tomorrow at the march. Suspect most

of them will agree with everything that is wrong and who is responsible, the question is do they understand the need to elect ANY democrat even if you completely disagree with them for any reason.

[bettyellen]

14. Maybe a slightly different frame is to show up at every election - and pick the better even if

They’re uninspired. I think when you find liberals, they’ll mostly vote Dem IF they show up. Making it a lifelong habit is key. Remind them Obama could have done so much more, and Clinton been a stinger liberal IF we had their backs. We didn’t support them after. They need to learn or accept it is a long game.

[Eliot Rosewater]

15. Agree, and I think many will show up now but I am concerned that they

are looking for perfect candidates.

[bettyellen]

16. showing up consistently is key- this chaos is designed to paralyze and confuse voters.

We have to fight the confusion and replace it with earnest pragmatism.

It really doesn’t take that long to research unfamiliar candidates and make a decision. It’s a commitment to the future that we all should learn and honor.

[eleny]

17. When the war drums start up the youth will come out of the woodwork

[Eliot Rosewater]

19. Hopefully, but the KGB (or new name, FSB, NOTHING else new about it)

will work day and night to convince them the democrats are as bad as the repubs.

[OldEurope]

20. Don't underestimate those "natives"!

They grew up with all sorts of internet trolls and know how to identify fake friends. My children are in their twenties and they know much more than I on those issues.
You could object that my children are German.
OTOH, you can see how the students act against the NRA (BRAVO!) and I'm sure that your twenty-somethings are likewise well educated.