This study investigates the information and participatory political practices of marginalized youth via four focus groups with 23 teens (aged 13–17 years) from two geographically distinct regions of the United States to address this limited understanding. The findings indicate that teens encounter political information and news from members of their social networks via digital media more than legacy media outlets, because it enables them to assert agency over social and political issues to which they feel connected. Furthermore, teens identify a tension between viewing adults, specifically teachers and politicians, as authoritative yet untrustworthy information sources, which can lead to their use of digital media to verify or challenge what adults are telling them. Finally, teens must navigate the sociotechnical challenges of digital media, including exposure to unwanted information and the potential social backlash of posting content that could be considered by others to represent slacktivism.

这项研究通过四个焦点小组调查了边缘化青年的信息和参与性政治实践，这些焦点小组来自美国两个地理上不同的地区，有23个青少年（13-17岁），以解决这一局限性的认识。研究结果表明，青少年通过数字媒体比其传统媒体更能通过数字媒体从社交网络成员那里获得政治信息和新闻，因为这使他们能够就自己认为与之相关的社会和政治问题主张代理权。此外，青少年认为观看成年人（特别是教师和政治家）之间的紧张关系是权威却不可信的信息来源，这可能导致他们使用数字媒体来验证或挑战成年人在告诉他们的内容。最后，青少年必须应对数字媒体的社会技术挑战，