Online Political Participation Research Articles

Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy

ABSTRACT Most current studies examining the mobilizing or reinforcing role of social media for political participation focus on gender and socioeconomic stratifications and are based in Western democratic societies. Attention to religious status as a form of social stratification concerning social media use for political participation, more so in non-Western settings, is nearly absent. This study, through survey data from India, investigates the roles of political interest, social media news use, and religious status in explaining online political participation gaps. Results show that individuals with higher political interest and frequent social media news use are likelier to engage in online political participation. Next, social media news use can moderate the relationship between political interest and online political participation, exacerbating the participatory gaps between politically interested and disinterested citizens. However, we also find that these relationships are further conditional upon the religious status of the citizens. Specifically, we observe that social media mobilizes politically interested members of religious minorities more than the majority group. The findings reveal the subtleties of the effects of social media on online political participation in a non-Western context. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of political engagement in the digital age.

Enhancing local governments' environmental attention through open government data: evidence from China.

Environmental conservation has ascended to a prominent position on the global agenda, and China, recognizing the urgent need for environmental protection, has implemented nationwide measures. However, varying levels of environmental attentiveness among local governments have resulted in uneven implementation of these national directives across regions. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the factors that drive local governments' environmental attention. Our study explores the impact of open government data (OGD) on local governments' environmental attention. Utilizing city-level data from 2010 to 2020, we employ a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model for empirical analysis. The results reveal that OGD significantly and positively influences local governments' environmental attention. This influence is partly attributed to OGD's role in promoting government digitization, mitigating fiscal pressures, and increasing energy demand. Further analysis, including heterogeneity assessments, demonstrates that OGD has a more pronounced positive effect on environmental attention in cities with higher online political participation activity and a larger internet user base. Such empirical insights underscore the imperative for an integrative policy framework that accentuates the refinement of OGD platform in tandem with strategic enhancements in political participatory mechanisms and digital infrastructure investments, thereby fostering robust local environmental stewardship paradigms.

WeChat News Contact among Chinese Youth and Impact on Political Participation: the Role of Social Capital, Political Trust, and Media Literacy

Several recent studies have found that social media positively influences the online political participation behavior of youth. However, only a few studies have explored the political participation behavior of Chinese youth on specific social media, such as WeChat, the most widely used mobile social media in China. To bridge this gap, this study examines Chinese youths’ contact with WeChat and its subsequent impact on political participation. The study uses a questionnaire to collect data and uses the SPSS 25.0 version to analyse data. The findings show that: (1) Chinese youths' WeChat news contact positively affects their WeChat political participation; (2) Chinese youths' social capital positively affects their political trust; (3) social capital and political trust play a partially mediating role between youths' WeChat news contact and youths' WeChat political participation; (4) media literacy plays a moderating role between youth WeChat news contact and youth WeChat political participation. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.

Likes vs. Loves (and Other Emoji Reactions): Facebook, Women, and the Gender Emoji Gap in US Election Campaigns

In 2017, Facebook’s news feed algorithm began weighting emoji reactions (e.g., love and angry) as five times more valuable than the like button. Such a change is theoretically intriguing because existing research largely suggests that women tend to use emojis more than men on social media. Within the context of political campaigns, prior work has revealed a host of other “gender gaps,” from documenting men’s and women’s differing tolerance for negative campaigns, to examining variations in online political participation and—more broadly—charting gendered imbalances in party demographic support. To date, however, no study has looked to investigate this potential gender emoji gap within the online political environment. This paper explores just such a gap, combining data across three US election cycles (2016–2020), over thirty million individual observations, and thousands of (federal and state) candidates. The data shows that women exhibited a greater preference for emoji reactions than men in response to posts from the 2016 presidential election candidates. Party, and candidate negativity, also appeared to moderate this effect. Likely due to this (moderated) gender gap, Democratic candidates continued to see a much higher proportion of emoji reactions to their posts, than Republicans in 2018, and 2020. In turn, the results offer clear evidence of a persistent emoji gender gap in US political campaigns on Facebook. Such findings strengthen our theoretical understanding of political communication and behavior online, and prompt important questions going forward for future research.

The phenomenon of digital political participation: forms, models and essential aspects

This article is devoted to the study of the conceptual features of the phenomenon of digital political participation, as well as its key forms and models of implementation. According to the author, in the last two decades there has been a transformation of traditional forms and models of political participation under the influence of digital information and communication technologies. In particular, social networks and messengers are used as tools for organizing, mobilizing, implementing various forms of political participation and civil-political activism. At the same time, under the influence of the development of digital information and communication technologies, completely new forms and models of civil and political participation are emerging. In this regard, it is legitimate to talk about the existence today of the phenomenon of online political participation (OPP), or digital network participation (DNP). One of the key questions remains the question of the relationship between "traditional" and digital forms of political participation. Based on the results of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that "traditional" and digital political participation are complementary to each other, since digital communication technologies allow today to involve a large number of potentially politically active citizens, disseminate political information and thereby create favorable conditions for the implementation of direct political action.

Social movement as a form of online political participation in social media

Exists the development of technology and communication 4.0 in Indonesia, were there has been a shift in the form of aspirations in the community from a conventional movement to a digital movement that is easily and very quickly disseminated and brings more support from many people. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of social media activists in mobilizing public participation with social movements and how the digital instrument Twitter can enhance democratic activities in Indonesia. Method used in this paper is literature review. The results indicate that the relationship between the role of digital technology and social movements can be seen from the power of the hashtag #MahasiswaBergerak which activists use to disseminate into an activity called a social movement which occupies the second trending peak. The use of the hashtag #MahasiswaBergerak is a symbol of the message contained in the hashtag. Users who are involved in liking, commenting, sharing, and retweeting using the hashtag #MahasiswaBergerak is a slactivism practice where only by carrying out these digital activities they have shown participation even though they do not have an impact on real change. Social media can become an alternative media in raising social issues to the surface.

Perils of political engagement? Examining the relationship between online political participation and perceived electoral integrity during 2020 US election

ABSTRACT The 2020 US election witnessed a surge of false claims on social media platforms asserting electoral fraud. Consequently, we ask the question, would greater online political engagement reduce perceived electoral integrity? We also explore whether the effects of online political participation on electoral integrity are contingent upon partisanship and news literacy. We use responses from a two-wave online panel survey conducted in the US before the November 2020 Presidential elections. Autoregressive regression models are employed to test the hypotheses. First, the findings suggest that those who engaged in greater online political engagement were more likely to doubt electoral integrity. Next, Republicans and those with lower levels of news literacy were also more skeptical of the electoral process. Further, moderation analyses suggest that the adverse effects of online political participation on perceived electoral integrity were more significant for Democrats and Independents than Republicans (perhaps because of ceiling effects). Finally, the relationship between online political participation and evaluations of electoral integrity is not contingent upon news literacy. Overall, the findings offer insight into how online political participation may erode electoral integrity for online users.

The Dilemma of Women Participating in the Discussion of Public Issues on Weibo: A Case Study of Sichuan Changing the Rule for Birth Registration

Weibo, as a new channel for online political participation and a becoming important platform for the feminist movement, has become the most important Internet public sphere in China, and more and more women are participating in the discussion of public issues on Weibo. This research focuses on the dilemma of women participating in the discussion of public issues on Weibo through a case study of Sichuan changing the rule for birth registration. Based on the three characteristics of Weibo: freedom, immediacy, and interactivity, this study selects the discussion period of the night of the announcement that is worth studying, which was intense and the sample size was large. A total of 282 valid data from Weibo users and the observations on the discussion of the rule demonstrate that traditional moral values have a profound influence on women. Women still need to improve their subjective awareness and improve their participation and influence in the discussion of public affairs, while men need to increase their attention to the dilemma of women. Weibo platform must simultaneously reduce its restrictions on free speech. The government should spread education about gender equality and protect victims.

Shame on you! How incivility and absence of supporting evidence in likeminded Facebook comments influence evaluations of ingroup members and online political participation

PurposeThis study examined how likeminded Facebook comments with incivility and without supporting evidence influence readers' evaluations of the commenter and online political participation intention. This study also investigated whether the indirect effect of exposure to uncivil comments and comments without evidence on online political participation through evaluations of the commenters is contingent on the strength of partisanship.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a 2 (uncivil comments vs civil comments) × 2 (comments without supporting evidence vs comments with supporting evidence) factorial design with a scenario about reading similar viewpoints about the gun control issue in Facebook comments.FindingsThe results showed that compared to exposure to civil agreeing comments, exposure to uncivil likeminded comments resulted in higher levels of negative evaluations of the commenters, which in turn decreased willingness to participate in political activities online. Exposure to comments without evidence led to more negative evaluations of the commenters, but it did not significantly influence online political participation. In addition, the strength of partisanship did not significantly moderate the indirect effect of exposure to uncivil comments and comments without evidence on online political participation through evaluations of the commenters.Originality/valueAlthough previous studies have demonstrated the significant effects of incivility and reasoned argument, little is known about whether and how people evaluate ingroup members' comments that are uncivil and lacking reasoned arguments. Most of these studies have examined incivility in political contexts, but few have extended the context to the effect of likeminded comments, especially when the comments are uncivil and lack supporting evidence. The current study aims to fill this gap in the literature.

Enlightenment of foreign citizens’ online political participation on China—Based on the case study of America, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan

The rapid progress of information technology has made public online participation in policy formulation an inevitable product of modern government reshaping and reconstruction. However, compared with developed countries, citizens’ online participation in policy formulation in China started relatively late. Thus, in order to explore an effective and efficient method for Chinese citizens’ participation in policy formulation, this research made a brief review of the experiences from the typical developed country of United States of America at first, followed by some other developed countries such as Singapore, South Korea, and Japan in Asia with similar situations. Still, combined with the current situation of the China itself into consideration, this research further proposes targeted recommendations. It is expected that the findings in this research could provide some references for the Chinese government to form more effective and efficient theoretical frameworks targeted at the future development trends of the Chinese society and accordingly, to improve the construction of democracy in China.

DİJİTAL MEDYADA SİYASAL İLETİŞİM VE Z KUŞAĞININ ÇEVRİMİÇİ SİYASAL KATILIMI

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN DIGITAL MEDIA and ONLINE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION of GENERATION Z
 ABSTRACT 
 Today, thanks to the use of data mining and machine learning on social media platforms, all personal data of individuals has become accessible. The effective use of this data has also started to transform political communication. In this study, data was collected from 356 social media user university students aged 18-24 studying in Istanbul through an online survey to analyze the impact of the use of personalized digital data and post-truth content in political communication on Generation Z's online political participation. According to the findings, the participants are not indifferent to the political agenda, but they show a passive online political participation behavior, as well as they worry that their personal digital data will be used in situations they do not consent to, and they are not completely sure about the accuracy of the online political content they encounter. These results, in relation to each other, show that young people both enter the spiral of silence of the digital age and feel the pressure created by the concept of surveillance society.
 Keywords: Generation z, Data mining, Personalized digital data, Online political participation.

The political foundation of mainstream media trust in East and Southeast Asia: A cross‐national analysis

AbstractDeclining levels of trust in the media in Western democracies have drawn the attention of political scientists, but much less attention has been paid to East Asia. This paper sets out to examine the logic behind media trust in three different types of regimes in East and Southeast Asia: countries with, partial, and no press freedom, respectively. Our findings show that while respondents' trust in government and support for socioideological control of the government have consistent and significant associations with their media trust across all 12 countries, Internet usage, online political participation, support for media censorship, and patriotic belief have different associations with the variable being studied as the degree of press freedom varies. The findings indicate that citizens are well aware of the role mass media plays in the political system and thus their trust in the media reflects the expectation‐perception gap of the government‐media relationship accordingly.

Filipino Youth in Viral and Virulent Times: Unpacking the Predictors of Youth Political Participation in the 2022 Philippine Elections

Conventional political science literature suggests that the economic and political dislocations that accompany disasters, like pandemics, weaken community resources and disrupt social networks, consequently decreasing civic engagement. This paper examines how discontent, demotivation, and fatigue due to the dragging COVID-19 pandemic provided impetus for offline, interpersonal, and online political participation among younger Filipino citizens especially nearing its 2022 presidential elections. Drawing on an exploratory survey of undergraduate students who were constrained to online classes due to pandemic restrictions, we find that pandemic fatigue motivated the youth to explore online platforms as situ of political articulation. The findings also nuance the impact of well-known predictors such as political knowledge, interest, and efficacy on youth civic engagement. In particular, internal political efficacy was found to be strongly related to the three forms of political participation while external efficacy only stimulates online political participation. The study points to the importance of targeting political attitudes in order to shape political interest among the youth and nurture a politically engaged citizenry.

Casual Social Media Use among the Youth: Effects on Online and Offline Political Participation

Previous studies suggest that social media use among the youth is correlated with online and offline political participation. There is also a mixed and inconclusive debate on whether online political participation in the youth increases offline political participation. This study uses three models of OLS, two-way fixed effects, and an instrumental variable approach to make causal inferences about the social media use and online and offline political participation of the youth. The analyses provide evidence of a significant effect of casual social media use on online political participation and no effect or negligible effect on offline political activity and voting behavior. The results from fixed effects and instrumental variable models provide strong evidence of elasticity between online political participation and offline political activity in young individuals. On average, a one percent increase in online political participation increases the offline political activity index by 0.12 percent.

E-Enabling as a Technological Platform for Electoral Democracy in Uganda

Globally, failure to have active, effective, and full participation in elections makes democracy wishful thinking. Considering the ineffectiveness of traditional methods of political participation alone, online political participation (e-enabling), especially through the use of the internet and social media, comes in handy in a bid to have a fair and credible election. This study investigates how e-enabling can act as a technological platform for electoral democracy in Uganda. Specifically, the study aims to establish the relationship between e-enabling and electoral democracy among citizens in Uganda. Using the mixed methods, under a descriptive correlational survey, a sample of N=482 respondents were in the study. Based on Pearson’s correlation coefficients, results reveal that e-enabling is significantly related to electoral democracy. Providing platforms like fair electoral policies and guidelines to enable people freely adopt and utilise the internet in elections through free social media, free or low-cost internet, good nationwide networks, minimising internet shutdowns so that all electoral stakeholders can freely express themselves and actively engage in all stages of the electoral process with the utmost fairness, transparency and accountability will go a long way in having e-enabling as a technological platform for strengthening electoral democracy in Uganda

Exploring the Link between Facebook Intensity and Online Political Participation: A Study on Malaysian Youth

Exploring the Link between Facebook Intensity and Online Political Participation: A Study on Malaysian Youth

The mediating role of emotions in offline and online political participation: A post-social outbreak study in Ecuador and Chile.

In 2019, there was a period of social outbreaks in several Latin American countries, which share a background of social inequality, distrust in authorities, a crisis of representativeness, and discontent towards social and economic policies. In October 2019, in Ecuador and Chile, participation in these protests was characterized by street protests and broad political participation in social networks and alternative media, which were followed or interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These facts have been deeply researched, addressing causal and structural factors of the phenomenon, the alternatives of political participation, and the role of emotions as determinants of action in these contexts. The objective of this study is to explore offline and online political participation (Facebook) after the social outbreak of 2019 in both countries, based on political interest, and how emotions intervene, especially negative ones, in a context of high demobilization. A descriptive, correlational ex post facto and cross-sectional methodology was used, with the participation of 367 people, 210 from Ecuador (57.2%) and 157 from Chile (42.8%), aged between 17 and 48 years (M = 22.13, SD = 3.73). The measurement was carried out from 2020 to 2021. A mediation analysis showed that people who are more interested in politics are more likely to experience anger and anxiety with the political and economic situation, which motivates conventional political participation (Model 1). In Model 2 people who showed greater concern about the political and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and together with anger, favor online political participation, especially local support. These results suggest the influence of emotions on political participation, which occurs when there is an increase in social discontent due to government policies adopted during the pandemic and which represents a continuity of the discontent that was expressed in the October 2019 social outbreak.

Powerless in the digital age? A systematic review and meta-analysis of political efficacy and digital media use

Many citizens feel powerless in the current globalized political context, despite the potential of digital media to increase their perceptions of being informed about politics and expand their opportunities to interact with elected officials to try to influence government decisions. We analyzed 193 studies to document the most popular ways to conceptualize, measure, and model political efficacy when also studying digital media. Furthermore, we conducted a meta-analysis of correlations. We find that the positive estimates are larger, on average, when considering internal political efficacy and smaller but still positive when considering external political efficacy. We also examine how the relationships differ according to the type of media use and political system, whether authoritarian (e.g. China) or democratic. We propose a theoretical framework that considers reciprocal effects. Online information may contribute to feelings of being informed about politics and feelings of being informed lead to online political participation.

Foreign experience in researching social and political activity online

Over the past decades, depending on the development of information and communication technologies, the understanding of social and political online activity, its meaning, and research methods have been constantly changing. Therefore, the article analyzes new theoretical and methodological approaches and the results of foreign research on public and political online activity. It is worth noting that today the research interest is sharpened by the involvement of more and more citizens and the continuous expansion of online political participation methods in democratic countries. After all, to the huge list of forms of political participation, it is worth adding those that have become available with the development of information and communication technologies, in particular social media — the distribution of political content and the use of social networks to mobilize other people to solve certain political goals. Many research questions have already been raised in the foreign scientific discourse: conceptualization of socio-political online activity, its determinants, predictors, and socio-demographic presentation. In my research, online social and political activism is conceptualized as a form of political participation, meaning citizen activism whose goal or outcome is to influence political and governmental outcomes. The study examines the activity itself because so far this type of activity cannot be called a practice, its normalization and habituation in everyday life have not yet been proven. At the same time, the question of the future of the digital public sphere and its role in democracy is extremely relevant, because it can develop according to at least two opposite scenarios, which directly affects online activism, especially in transition countries. That is why it is so important to study and apply foreign experience in the study of Ukrainian social and political online activism. In general, the article demonstrates that a large gap in Ukrainian research on political participation on the Internet has yet to be filled.

The inhibition effect: Privacy concerns disrupt the positive effects of social media use on online political participation

The literature on the relationship between social media and online political participation continues to expand. Yet, attention to the effect of cognitive dispositions central to user engagement on social media is rare. This study advances the current theoretical understanding of the effects of social media news use by focusing on online privacy concerns. Two studies in Singapore (Study 1 using cross-sectional survey data) and the United States (Study 2 using two-wave panel data) find that social media news use is positively associated with online political participation. Still, public concern regarding online privacy is negatively related to online political participation. Moreover, moderation analyses suggest that those with more significant privacy concerns are least likely to engage in online political participation, even at higher social media news use levels. We also identify that those with lower cognitive ability are more likely to curb online participation due to privacy concerns.