Online interaction by university students in Chile, Spain and Mexico

Social media sites have become an important tool for socialisation and political engagement, particularly in the case of young people. This article aims to explore the relationship between, on the one hand, the consumption and political use of social media and (a) the sense of political efficacy and (b) the building of social capital. The study presented focuses on university students from Chile, Spain and Mexico, who were surveyed during 2017–2018. A quantitative methodology combining univariate, bivariate and multivariate data analysis was used, with the results revealing that the sense of political efficacy is influenced by the political use of social media, while social capital is influenced by both the consumption of social media and the political use made thereof.