Articles Open Access Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026)

DIGITAL MINIMALISM AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: ANALYZING LOW SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE RATES AND DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION IN JAPANESE YOUTH

Authors

  • Kenjiro Sakamoto 1,✉
  1. University of Tokyo

marks the corresponding author.

  • Received: 2026-04-25
  • Published 2026-04-24
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Abstract

Japan presents a distinctive case in the comparative study of digital media and democratic participation: despite high smartphone penetration, Japanese adults aged 18–35 report the lowest average daily social media usage (approximately 225 minutes) among surveyed developed nations, with a striking structural dominance of Line,a closed, interpersonal messaging platform,over open public discourse platforms. This study investigates how this pattern of 'digital minimalism,' defined here as below-average voluntary reduction in public-facing social media engagement, shapes news consumption, political polarization exposure, and civic participation among Japanese youth. Drawing on a large-scale cross-platform survey (n = 1,500; ages 18–35; six prefectures), this study compares civic engagement profiles across three platform-use groups: Line-dominant users, X (formerly Twitter)-dominant users, and multi-platform users. Results indicate that Line-dominant users report higher rates of electoral participation (41.3%) and community volunteering (28.7%) compared to X-dominant users (33.8% and 19.4%, respectively), despite lower scores on news consumption and political interest indices. Logistic regression analysis identifies daily online time as a significant negative predictor of voting participation (OR = 0.996, p < .01), while political interest and news consumption remain positive predictors across groups. Polarization exposure scores are substantially lower among Line-dominant users and negatively predict voting participation (OR = 0.83, p < .05). The findings suggest that civic engagement in a low-polarization digital environment takes qualitatively different forms,emphasizing local, community-based participation over partisan political activism. These results challenge prevailing assumptions that higher social media engagement universally promotes democratic participation and invite reconceptualization of the relationship between digital minimalism and civic health.

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Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026)

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