US, South Korea, and Others Show Growing 'Young Men and Women' Gap in Elections
"SNS Influence Deepens Isolation Between Young Men and Women"
With President-elect Donald Trump winning the recent U.S. presidential election, some foreign media have focused on his popularity among 'young men.'
The British daily newspaper The Guardian pointed out on the 14th (local time) in its analysis of the U.S. election that "the group sending the most serious warning to the future of the U.S. Democratic Party is young men." In the past, young Americans, regardless of gender, tended to vote for progressive candidates, but this trend has reversed this time, according to the media outlet.
Supporters of Donald Trump, former President of the United States, cheer at the New York Youth Republican Club's election night event held in Manhattan, New York, on the 6th (local time), when he won the presidential election. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News
The Guardian analyzed that the most pronounced gender gap in voting preferences in the U.S. election was among the 18-29 age group. Among this age group, 56% of men supported President-elect Trump, while only 42% supported Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Conversely, 58% of women in the same age group supported Harris, with only 40% voting for Trump.
The Guardian noted that this 'gender gap' is not a phenomenon observed only in the U.S. In the 2022 South Korean presidential election, most age groups did not show significant differences in voting preferences between men and women, but the 18-29 age group exhibited a large gap.
Similar trends have appeared in some European countries as well. In a poll conducted in Germany, support for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) was twice as high among young men compared to young women.
Alice Evans, a social development scholar at King's College London, attributed the cause of this gap to the influence of social networking services (SNS). She explained, "When I was young, there were four TV channels in the UK, and the range of choices was narrow. Friends all watched BBC News, The Simpsons, Friends, and similar programs together." She analyzed, "However, today's media is consumed through smartphones, and the range of choices is almost infinite."
Additionally, modern SNS platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and TikTok personalize video searches through recommendation algorithms. This can lead to increased gender polarization even within the same age group.
Dr. Evans argued, "To reverse this isolation, changes in schools are necessary," adding, "Banning cellphone use in schools and increasing investment in local youth centers would help change the polarization trend." She further stated, "If young people spend more time with the opposite sex rather than alone, they will realize how much they have in common."
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