In this article, I describe two distinct reasons for engagement with entertaining political content by today's teenagers. As young people increasingly use digital media for access to political information, they rely less on traditional outlets such as newspapers and television. Yet the appeal of humorous political content in this sphere remains underexplored by researchers. Drawing on data from the Swiss longitudinal study Biographical Experiences and Political Engagement in Youth, I examine how young people's information-seeking behaviors relate to their biographies and political socialization processes. I identify two contrasting user types: Firstly, youths who consume entertaining content as an entry point into political communication and to strengthen relationships; secondly, others who engage with it to compensate for a lack of political discussion and to bolster their identities. Based on these patterns, I show how political engagement can be facilitated through humorous formats in ways that are associated with biographical trajectories and social milieus. Furthermore, I demonstrate how the broader social inequalities among youths are reflected in their media consumption in addition to addressing methodological challenges in researching fast-evolving digital phenomena.
Jessica Lütgens (Sat,) studied this question.