Shaping beliefs without changing votes: transformative and causative social media influence in post-crisis Greece

This exploratory cross-sectional survey study examines the relationship between social media use and political engagement among digitally-active Greeks aged 18–39 ( N = 310). Drawing on a convenience sample collected in late 2022–early 2023, we propose a conceptual distinction between “transformative” influence (social media's capacity to shape political beliefs and opinions) and “causative” influence (its capacity to directly determine voting decisions). Aggregate-level analysis reveals that tr