How do Healthy Political Discussions Invigorate Online Participation? Evidence from 17 European Countries

Women and the Politics of Incivility and Discrimination: Introduction

Prior research has largely documented the overall mobilizing effects of social media news consumption and political discussion linked to citizens’ political participatory behaviors. However, limited empirical research has considered the informational and communicative effects to be contingent upon different social media platforms. Therefore, this study advances distinct theoretical affordances and effects of social media news use on online (by using online versions of legacy media outlets, blogs, and news apps) and social media political participation. Taking advantage of US comparative panel data, ordinary least squares (OLS) causal autoregressive regressions and panel autoregressive structural equation model tests cast a much-needed light on the diverse effects of Facebook, X, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit use for news over both political discussions with weak and strong ties, and political participation online and in social media. Moreover, results from two-step algorithmic cluster analysis clarify how these social media platforms generate different information and political behavior clusters of citizens, which also provide a comparative view of how social media platforms differently contribute to people’s public and political life in US democracy.

Analysis of political and visual arguments is a key exercise traditionally included in undergraduate argumentation courses. This activity teaches students how to identify and analyze political candidate arguments presented on visual social media platforms, demonstrating how argumentation theory applies to social media campaigns. In the exercise, students identify an active political candidate’s Instagram account and select a recent post for analysis, focusing primarily on evaluating the visual arguments created within the post. After the analysis, students present their findings to the class, including evidence of the most compelling visual arguments identified. This activity incorporates the use of a familiar visual medium to help students connect wargumentation theories and concepts with relevant social media messages they may encounter in their daily lives. It also capitalizes on students’ existing use of popular visual social media to introduce basic argumentation theory, political communication practices, and visual argument analysis techniques. Courses This single-class activity is useful in undergraduate communication courses related to argumentation, political communication, and social media messaging. Relevant courses can include argumentation and advocacy, political argumentation, or visual argument analysis units of any course. For example, this activity can be successfully deployed in an Introduction to Political Communication course’s unit on the use of visual media during political campaigns. Objectives The learning objectives of this activity are: (1) to analyze visual arguments as they appear on social media and (2) to identify specific elements of strong and weak political arguments on a visually dominant social media platform.

Authorship and individualization in the digital public sphere

How the Mainstream Media Help to Spread Disinformation about Covid-19

ABSTRACTAdopting the Orientation–Stimuli–Reasoning–Orientation–Response (O–S–R–O–R) model of political communication effects, this study examines the mediating roles of online/offline political discussion and political trust on the relationship between social media information seeking and online/offline political participation in China and Hong Kong. Findings through structural equation modeling showed that the relationship between information seeking and online participation was mediated by online discussion for both samples. Moreover, the relationship between information seeking and offline participation was mediated by offline discussion, and offline discussion mediated the relationship between information seeking and online participation. Political trust did not mediate any of the relationships in China and Hong Kong and all significant paths involving political trust were negative. Implications of the findings for youth political participation in China and Hong Kong are discussed.

Social media platforms have been widely perceived as centers of political discourse, and have been shown to facilitate political participation among young adults (18-26 years). However, as the effects of online political discourse and behaviors have become pervasive offline, significantly affecting global political processes such as deterring women from public political office and influencing election outcomes, it raises questions regarding how young adult users engage in these online political spaces of discourse. In this paper, we focus on the perceptions and forms of engagement of Gen Z social media users, specifically those of Gen Z young adult women. In this paper we broadly ask, how do voting-age Generation (Gen) Z young adult women perceive spaces of political discourse on social media, and do these perceptions affect how they choose to engage in them? To explore this question, we conducted 17 interviews with voting-age Gen Z women across the United States. We found that our participants were largely critical of social media as spaces of political discourse. They were skeptical of the credibility of the political information shared on social media, questioned the usefulness of sharing political information through social media, and felt that social media was not conducive to having productive political discussions. We find that participant perceptions of social media political discourse led to them limiting their online engagement or disengaging entirely from online public political spaces, but expanding their offline private political engagement through in-person discussion. Our findings indicate that our participants were not politically disinterested, but rather did not partake in public forms of social media political engagement, leading us to question and reconsider widespread interpretations of 'political participation' that center and emphasize public forms of action and expression. Drawing on our findings, we propose that the practice of 'disengagement' from public spaces of online political discourse should be considered a dimension of political engagement and not separate from it. In proposing this, we also broadly question the efficacy of social media as a forum to promote and facilitate political discourse.

On the pretext of safeguarding democratic values in contemporary societies, various forms of debasement language have become an integral part of political discourse. Impregnating political speeches, statements, debates, and discussions with coarse language that normally targets political opponents as well as other potential victims is not a new trend. However, most of the literature dedicated to defining incivility in political discourse mainly focuses on the use of hate speech. The chapter at hand aspires to offer a deeper analysis of the concept of debasement language as part of incivility in politics and offers answers to several key questions: (1) what exactly is debasement language and what types of debasement language are used in political discourse; (2) why is such language used; (3) who is the target of political debasement discourse; and (4) how such language affects individuals and the democratic process in modern societies. Several instances of debasement language used by current and former politicians, from different countries in the world, generated on various platforms (TV, newspapers, social media, etc.), and appearing in different formats (press statements, political speeches, TV debates, etc.), will be used to illustrate the points discussed.

Based on an online survey of 734 news podcast users in Korea, this study analyzed how motivations for podcast use and news podcast variables affected offline and online political participation. The results showed that any motivation did not have a significant effect on offline and online participation. Rather, discussions about issues transmitted through news podcasts were a positive predictor of online participation as well as offline participation. The discussion was also a mediator in the relationship between the time spent on a news podcast and offline/online political participation. That is, news podcast use enhanced political discussions, which promoted participation offline and online. Overall, these results indicate that discussions are important in the mobilization of political participation in the era of podcast. Keywords: podcast, news podcast, political discussion, online participation, offline participation

The use of social media has become an integral part of everyday life, including in people's political participation. Campus community political participation is greatly influenced by social media. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have a significant impact on political engagement. People use social media as a political campaign tool, as well as a means of communicating and obtaining political information that is fast, accurate and reliable. This research aims to determine the influence of social media on political participation in campus communities. The method used is descriptive qualitative. The data collection method was carried out by interviewing students. Participants in this research were PPI FUSI UINSU students using structured interviews conducted with 30 PPI FUSI UINSU students. Data is collected and analyzed to identify levels of media use, participation and politics. The research results show that social media is very important for citizen participation, especially the community. The role of social media as a medium for information about politics is quite large. Social media as a communication tool for seeking political information, social media has positive and negative impacts on the political participation of campus communities, especially in increasing political awareness and participation through online information and discussions and the spread of hoax news. With easy access and fast dissemination of information, social media allows students to more easily engage in political discussions, express opinions, and gather support for various issues. Apart from that, social media also helps in mass mobilization to attend demonstrations, elections and other political events. Social media has an important role in increasing the political participation of students in the Fusion Islamic Education Study Program at UIN North Sumatra. As a result, political participation among students has become more active and dynamic, creating a younger generation who is more aware and critical of developing political issues.

Three presidential candidates contest the 2024 presidential election of the Republic of Indonesia. The number of Indonesian voters was 49.96% male and 50.04% female. The female group was one of the potential targets the presidential candidates chose to support. Although the number of female voters were more significant than male voters, women's participation in politics in Indonesia was still male. The low involvement of Indonesian women in politics is due to patriarchal culture. The presence of communication technology, such as social media platforms, has the potential to change the political behavior of Indonesian women in expressing their opinions and political attitudes. This is what prompted the researchers to conduct research. This study uses the Netnography method, supported by communication network analysis. Twitter social media data mining was carried out using NodeXL software. The study results show that women dare to express political discussions on social media rather than face-to-face. However, big cities in Java still dominate women's participation in political debates, such as in Bandung, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, and Surabaya. Meanwhile, women outside Java still need to be more involved in political discussions. Female figures who received more responses from Twitter users include: Yurisa Agustina Samosir (account @Yurisa_Samosir) and Marlina (account @marlina_idha). Issues that women more widely discuss include education, economy, and online gaming policies. Based on the analysis of communication networks, women prefer the Prabowo-Gibran presidential pair over the Anis-Muhammin or Ganjar-Mahfud pairs. Keywords: Computer Mediated Communication Theory, political participation, women, big data, gender equality.

Research extensively explores how social media influences online political participation, yet there is limited focus on the cognitive factors that shape user interactions on these platforms. Moreover, most of this research centers around Western democracies, leaving a gap in understanding its applicability in more conservative, non-Western settings. This study builds upon the communication mediation model to enhance theoretical insights into social media’s role, particularly focusing on concerns about online privacy. By analyzing survey data from the United States (US), China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, we find that the use of social media for news is positively associated with engaging in political discussions on social media (both heterogeneous/diverse and homogeneous/similar) and online political participation across all contexts. Nonetheless, except for Singapore, our observations indicate a negative relationship between privacy concerns and participation in all contexts. Further, moderated mediation analysis reveals that in Asian countries, the tendency of social media news to facilitate online political participation through political discussion is significantly reduced for those more concerned about online privacy. This pattern is consistent in the US for heterogeneous but not for homogenous discussions. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed, including the differential findings from the US.

In a developing democracy like Malaysia, social media is pervasive in its influence on politics and democratic processes, particularly among the youth. Social media promotes the expression of opinions among groups, thereby opening up the realm of the public sphere in a semi-democratic country like Malaysia. Unlike the original conception of the public sphere, social media consists of spaces where citizens belonging to different groups and cultures, speak in different registers or languages, finding meaningful participation. Based on online interviews with 44 first-time voters among the Malay youth group, this article investigates the aspects of the interaction between young voters and the social media “public sphere.” It examines the platforms they use to communicate about politics, how they make sense of politics, and how they interact with other citizens through social media. The findings reveal four prevalent themes. First, young people have a keen interest in accessing political information on social media, albeit passively. Secondly, Twitter and Facebook were found to be the most influential social media channels for first-time voters seeking political information. Thirdly, out of concern about the surveillance practices on social media, private WhatsApp groups have emerged as the primary platform for first-time voters to engage in political discussions and debates. This leads us to the fourth theme, where the stories that feature on WhatsApp and Instagram are gaining prominence as the dominant platform for sharing political information. This trend highlights the potential for the incidental and ephemeral consumption of political content through these platforms. This trend may have significant implications for how political messages are communicated and received on these social media platforms.

The role of social media in political participation cannot be overstated as sites like Facebook and Twitter have provided new avenues for political engagement. Yet, concerns for declining participation among youths has led to increased research in this area. Unfortunately, conflicting results have emerged from such researches, perhaps due to lack of proper theorization of the concept of youth online political participation on social media. Hence, the Cognitive Engagement Theory (CET) will be used as underpinning in the paper. CET from the perspective of online political participation on social media embodies two separate trend. First, is the decrease in the cost of acquiring information; and second, the increase in youth’s ability to process political information which in turn enhances participation. This means that youths will have more political resources allowing them to deal with political issues and understand how democracy works in their society. Consequently, using CET has helped to clarify differing results as it contain variables such as access to political information on social media, political knowledge, political interest and policy satisfaction which better explains the concept of youth online political participation on social media, hence decreasing the inconsistencies experienced in previous researches. Keywords: Social Media, Online Political Participation, Cognitive Engagement Theory, Youths.

Social media in recent times has proven to be extremely persuasive in influencing the public’s opinion on political affairs. Since 2007, election campaigns have actively utilized several social media platforms in Kenya for communicating with, mobilizing, and organizing supporters. Politicians and political activists along with their parties make maximum use of it to interact and provide civic education to the public. However, few written materials are available on how Kenyan youth, particularly those who live in Kiambu County, use social media for political engagement. The objective of this research is therefore to explore patterns as well as practices characterizing social media use by young people in Kiambu County and how this affects their political involvement and discourse. This research is guided by Habermas’s Theory of the Public Sphere, which asserts that public political discourse that is free from government interference is important for creating functional democracies. Social media, which acts as a public sphere, can allow the youth to engage in political discussions and other civic activities. The research employs a descriptive research design, utilizing an online survey as the primary tool for data collection, administered via Survey Monkey. The research’s target population includes young people enrolled in institutions of higher learning in Kiambu County who use social media for communication. The sample size was determined based on the number of university students in Kiambu County. It utilized stratified random sampling on a target population of 115,330 to draw a sample of 380 youths using a Survey Monkey online sample calculator with a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error. Initially, a pilot study was conducted on 10% of the sample, which is 38 respondents, to ascertain the reliability of the research instruments, eventually, from the 342 surveys sent out, 224 were completed and returned. For data analysis, Microsoft Excel was utilized in coding and organizing the data to create tables and graphs. The findings showed that X was the respondents' most used platform for political discourse. Most respondents were aware of and engaged in political discussions on social media, and believed that social media influenced their political attitudes and beliefs. Although most viewed social media as a source of civic education, they were skeptical about its reliability due to misinformation. The study concludes that many youths in Kiambu County are actively participating in political discussions online and therefore it recommends that better education should be provided to help the youth discern credible information from misinformation. Additionally, interventions should be established to curb digital crimes like cyberbullying and online fraud.