Abstract:
This study sought to determine the use of YouTube and understanding the youth‟s perceptions and perspectives on socio-political messages: A case of the City of Kigali. The specific objectives of the study encompassed determining how YouTube is used among youth and what are their perceptions and perspectives on socio-political messages. Socio-political messages on YouTube are the ones uploaded to describe the differences between groups of people relating to their political beliefs, social class, etc. These messages influences the morals of a nation and overlap both political and social arenas. This study was done based on the theories of self-regulation which developed by Albert Bandura in 1991, preference for online social interaction which was developed by Scott E. Caplan, the cognitive theory of multimedia learning which was developed by Richard Mayer, technological determinism theory which was developed by Marshall Mcluhan
in 1962 , and klapper reinforcement or limited effects theory which was developed by Joseph Klapper in 1660. This study was conducted using descriptive research design. A sample of 100 respondents was selected using both purposive and simple random sampling.
The study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis. The qualitative methods included documents review and analysis, key informant interview, and Focus Group discussion (FGDs) while quantitative method used a survey through a semi-structured questionnaire. The main findings of the dissertation were that, the youth perceive socio-political messages on YouTube as increasing sexual desire due to pornographic videos uploaded by citizens of western countries where it has become a social culture, circulation of political fake news, defaming the country‟s political figures, spreading western cultures. The study concluded that, the youth perceive socio-political messages on YouTube as a threat to the youth given the video's uploaded which are promoting western cultures and negative political ideologies among youth. This dissertation therefore recommends that, the ministry having youth in its attributions should train the youth on better usage of YouTube. It also recommends that, law enforcement organs should be equipped with adequate skills in tracking, investigation, and
prosecution of crimes involving YouTube channels. It further recommends that, there should be a specific law or regulation on the use of YouTube.
