Socium

A generation gap in the way political media are consumed is also important in the digital era, where rapid technological change and generational replacement make it increasingly important to understand how different generations are using media for political purposes. The present study examines the generational differences in media and political engagements of Millennials and Digital Natives in Pakistan. Although much has been done in research on the relationship between digital media and civic participation, there has been limited literature about the interaction of the algorithmic design features and generational digital literacies in non-Western democratic situations. In order to fill this gap, the study conducted a cross-sectional survey of an equal sample of Millennials and Digital Natives using a validated scale of media consumption patterns, news-finds-me attitudes, political efficacy, perceived digital design affordances, and political engagement. The findings show that Millennials enjoy a mixed trend of using both old and new media, and Digital Natives mostly utilize social media and feeds built around algorithms. The news-finds-me attitudes are positive predictors of political engagement in the two cohorts. Political efficacy mediates the connection between the media usage and political participation- especially by Millennials- and the perceived digital design features (i.e., interactivity, algorithmic recommendation, participatory affordances) mediate the media-engagement association, particularly among Digital Natives. These results imply that the generational identity and platform design have come together to transform civic participation during the digital age. The significance of design-conscious, participatory infrastructure in political communication strategy coupled with implications on media literacy programs.