This is a project for my Qualitative Research Methods Course. Youth have recently made increased their presence on social media platforms. It is imperative that project evaluation methods engage youth and encourage their participation. Social media is a great way to engage young people in project evaluation!

1. Engaging Youth in Project
Evaluation
Why Social Media Might be the Answer
By: Christine Wilkinson

2. Project Evaluation
Project evaluation is the “systematic
collection of information about the activities,
characteristics, and outcomes of program to
make judgments about the program,
improve program effectiveness, and/or
inform decisions about future programming”
Evaluation “is about collecting
information about a specific issue
that is important to a given
organization or community.
Evaluation is about the future.
The aim is to use the collected
information to make positive
recommendations to strengthen
a program, project or a policy”
Source: (Zeldin, Bestful & Powers, 2012, p. 14)

3. Why Engage Youth in Project Evaluation
 Projects are more successful when they involve users – take a participatory approach
 It is recognized that evaluations should seek the views of young people who have taken part in the project (The Big
Lottery Fund, 2005)
 Accountability, Improvement, Knowledge development, Social justice (Zeldin et al., 2010)
 Respond to youth stakeholders, enhance evaluation design, equalize power of youth, promote youth development
(Innovation Center for community & youth development, 2005)
 Youth were previously excluded from project evaluation, they weren’t seen as “potential contributors” to the
evaluation process
 Now, many “evaluation projects make the process as youth-driven as possible”, as this has led to “positive youth
development” and empowerment

4. Project Evaluation and Youth
Benefits Source: (Zeldin et al., 2010):
 Enhanced confidence, competence and social networks among youth and staff
 Youth motivated to contribute which leads to a sense of connectedness
 Organizational benefits – representation, quality and reputation
 Benefits for communities
 Youth should continuously be involved in community matters
 Positive impact on the evaluation process
 Strengthens capacity of organization
 Youth employ creative methods adding richness and depth
“The keystone to leveraging social media to inspire youth toward a greater
purpose lies in understanding and capitalizing on the informal, networked and
collaborative learning styles of contemporary youth”
(Liang et al., 2010, p. 13)

5. Social Media and Youth
 Youth are the first cohort to “grow up fully
wired and technologically fluent” (Liang, Commins &
Duffy, 2010)
 As of 2009, StatsCan reported that 98% of
people aged 16 to 24 went online (Schein, Wilson &
Keelan, n.d.)
 92% of teens go online daily, and 71% of teens
use more than one social network site (Lenhart,
2015)
 Access to Smart phones and internet have
increased youth’s social media usage
 U.S. teenagers spend 24 hours and 54 minutes
per month on the internet

6. 59%
34%
30%
26%
33%
9%
4%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Facebook
Instagram
Snapchat
Twitter
Google+
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Daily Social Media Usage Among Youths in
in 2014
Usage
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/440868/social-media-web-usage-canada-youth/

7. Project evaluation and social media
 “The tools of social media must be tailored to foster
engagement, authenticity, empowerment and conflict
tolerance even while the involved parties are
connecting virtually and often asynchronously” (Liang et al.,
2010)
 Social media poses a unique and valuable opportunity
to engage stakeholders in project evaluation
 It is one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to
reach an audience as it allows for quick, real time
communication between participants

8. Case Study: #Perth4Youth
 Engaging youth (ages 15-29) in the
strategic plan to attract and retain youth
in Perth County
 Identify and address issues and
opportunities in Perth that affect local
youth and the future of the community
 Uses social media to reach out to youth
for participation and evaluation of their
program
 Successful method to evaluate the
assets for youth in Perth County
 Limitation: not all youth are on social
media, so it is best if it is used as a
supplement to other methods of
engagement
Source: Perth4Youth

9. Questions for Consideration
 In what types of projects would you want to engage youth in evaluation?
 What are other good ways to engage youth in project evaluation?
 How might social media act as a limitation for youth engagement?
 How do you think you would use social media to engage youth in project
evaluation?
 Would this method of project evaluation be useful in your own research?
 How can youth engagement in project evaluation be used outside of the
academic research setting?

10. Conclusion
Because youth already have a strong presence on social media, it
is a great opportunity to take advantage of this, and engage them
in project evaluation as it will lead to greater likelihood of success
and make them feel more included and empowered in their
community
References
Innovation Center for community & youth development. (2005). A Tool Kit for Engaging Youth and Adults as Partners in Program Evaluation.
Innovation Center for community & youth development. Reflect and Improve, 1-105.
Lenhart, A. (2015). Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015: Smartphones facilitate shifts in communication landscape for teens. Pew
Research Center. 1-47. Retrieved from: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/
Liang, B., Commins, M., & Duffy, N. (2010). Using Social Media to Engage Youth: Education, Social Justice, & Humanitarianism. The Prevention
Researcher, 17, pp. 13-16.
Perth4Youth. (2016). Perth4Youth – Community Engagement Sessions. Township of Perth East.
Schein, R., Wilson, K., & Keelan, J. (n.d.) Literature Review on Effectiveness of the Use of Social Media: A Report for Peel Public Health. Centre for
Innovation in Complex Care & School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Big Lottery Fund. (2005). Engaging young people in evaluation and consultation. The Big Lottery Fund. Big Lottery Fund Research, 10, pp. 1-16.
Zeldin, S., Bestful, L., & Powers, J. (2012). Youth-Adult Partnerships in Evaluation (Y-AP/E): A Resource Guide for Translating
Research into Practice. Ithica, NY: ACT for youth Center of Excellence, Cornell University.