Abstract
The present study investigates the influence of social networks on the political culture of the citizens of Pereira, Colombia, the central purpose was to identify, describe and analyze the features of the political culture and its links with citizen participation, contributing to studies of democracy in Colombia, for which research was made on the local political context. History, dynamics and main features. The following theoretical categories were defined: political culture, politics, citizen participation, democracy and political communication, contrasted with the local and national political reality. A quantitative methodology was used that included surveys and content analysis of social media posts to analyze the use and its relationship with political culture. The results indicate that the citizens of Pereira show a high level of individualism in the use of social networks, which suggests that digital platforms are contributing to the formation of a political culture based on autonomy and individual expression, in addition to low citizen participation, loss of rootedness and belonging. It was also observed that citizens tend to use social media mainly to express their political opinions individually, without a strong sense of belonging to political groups or collective movements. This phenomenon may be related to the very nature of social media, which facilitates individual expression and the creation of virtual communities based on shared interests rather than traditional political affiliations.