Social Media Engagement in Rural Youth Political Mobilization in Zimbabwe: A Scoping Review

Social media platforms have emerged as pivotal tools for political mobilization in various societies, including Zimbabwe's rural youth demographic. A comprehensive scoping review approach was employed to synthesize qualitative studies focusing on quantitative measures of engagement levels across different social media platforms. Engagement levels varied significantly, with a notable proportion (35%) of participants reporting active participation in at least one political campaign over the past year. While social media has facilitated greater visibility and mobilization among rural youth, challenges such as misinformation and limited access persist. Strategic interventions should aim to enhance digital literacy and provide equitable access to online resources for rural communities. Model estimation used $\hat{\theta}=argmin_{\theta}\sum_i\ell(y_i,f_\theta(x_i))+\lambda\lVert\theta\rVert_2^2$, with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.