Usage of Social Media for Civic Engagement by Ngos

Abstract

The current study determine various factors affecting the adoption of social media for civic engagement. These factors are demographic and psychographic variables. For the purpose of research 60 NGOs from Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali were selected. The data collection tool was a'structured questionnaire ’administered to the key personnel of the NGOs headquartered in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. The data was tested for associations by using SPSS. Demographics selected for the research include gender, income and occupation whereas psychographics are Locus of Control and Life Satisfaction. Chi-square was used to determine the association between adoption of social media and demographic and psychographicvariables. Results revealed that there is no association between adoption of social media, income and occupation. On the contrary, Chi-square proved that male respondents are using social media for civic engagement more than female respondents. Dealing with the psychographics, it was assumed that respondents having high internal Locus of Control use social media most for civic engagement because these people believe in their capabilities and hard work rather than the destiny. Again chi square proved that there is no association between adoption of social media and Locus of Control and Life Satisfaction. Further, the study also determines the most used social media tool by NGOs and also the purposes to use different social media tools. Results proved that NGOs use ‘email ’the most. When it comes to purpose of social media usage, NGOs were asked the most used social media tool ‘to receive donations from foreign lands ’, ‘to obtain information about projects ’, ‘to attend the queries of supporters or general public ’, ‘to circulate information regarding your policies and projects ’, ‘to reveal the information regarding expenditure and donations received'. Simple percentage method proved that ‘email ’is again used for most of the activities. The current study provides the solid theoretical foundation by linking results with theories such as Media richness theory, self-determination theory, reinforcement theory, collective action theory, social-presence theory, lack of social context cues theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs.