2. Uniting Virtual Spaces for Mass Participation (Approx. 10 minutes):

Whether for offline or online activities, participation in one’s community is an essential part of living a fulfilling life. Every community needs people to support the infrastructure and online participation – active online participation – can be one way of assuring mutual benefits in an online community. Active participation also has a role to play in the development of e-democracy, where one uses electronic communications to enhance the democratic process.

3. Building and Advocating Online Communities (Approx. 10 minutes):

Nearly all forms of youth participation can be recreated in a digital format in some way. For example, youth council meetings or youth conferences can be hosted through video chat, or protests can be organized and held through hashtags and social media posts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many youth participation projects transferred their activities exclusively to digital formats.  The digital world also gives the potential to create new methods of participation which could not be implemented in the physical world. Without physical barriers and limits, it becomes possible to do things like involving very large numbers of people or hosting interactions with people in multiple places across the world simultaneously.