Abstract
This article is intended as a plea for changes in youth (media) research in order to be able to do justice to changes in the everyday lives of young people, also with regard to how they deal with new media. This also applies, and in a special way, when it comes to young people's opportunities for political participation with the help of online media such as the internet1. In order to be able to offer adequate strategies to support young people in building up participation, it is necessary to have precise knowledge of how young people deal with politics, what understanding of politics they have and what means they use to get involved in social discourse - a challenge also for youth (media) research. It is a challenge for youth (media) research to develop theoretical and methodological approaches that allow an adequate understanding of how young people deal with politics and their own forms of social participation - and this in the context of their ways of dealing with new media, especially the internet.
