Perceived party polarization,news attentiveness,and political participation: a mediated moderation model

Perception of party polarization has a positive impact on political participation. While past research suggests that such impact depends upon people’s information use, empirical evidence is lacking. We used a mediated moderation model to test the multiplicative effect between polarization perception and media use on political participation. The data for analysis came from a survey of 625 representative Hong Kong residents in 2015. Findings show that the impact of perceived party polarization on political participation is contingent upon one’s news attentiveness, and that internal political efficacy serves as a mediator that partially explains the interaction effect. Narrowed gaps in political knowledge, efficacy, and participation were observed between light and heavy news users as perceived party polarization rises. The implications of the findings with respect to political participation, role of news media use, and the formation of efficacy beliefs in the context of party polarization are discussed.     

Can government’s presence on social media stimulate citizens’ online political participation? Investigating the influence of transparency,trust, and responsiveness

This paper empirically investigates the association of quality information provided by a government agency on social media and citizen’s online political participation. It further answers the why and how questions regarding the existence of this relationship by examining the mediating influence of transparency, trust, and responsiveness. The data was collected from 388 followers of the social media platforms of a government agency i.e. Punjab Food Authority and the findings of the analysis were obtained using structural equation modeling technique. The results reveal that the agency’s provision of quality information on social media was significantly related to perceived transparency, trust in agency, perceived responsiveness, and citizens’ online political participation. Moreover, the results show that perceived transparency mediates the relationship between agency’s provision of quality information on social media and citizens’ trust in agency. Additionally, trust in agency was an insignificant predictor and perceived responsiveness was a negative predictor of citizens online political participation, Also, trust in agency and perceived responsiveness suppressed the relationship between agency’s provision of quality information on social media and citizens’ online political participation. This study aims to bring awareness and contribution to the body of knowledge about the governmental use of social media and its resulting benefits since in developing countries like Pakistan the research in this area is sparse. Further, it provides strategic and practical suggestions to agencies regarding advantages of utilizing social media in their communication with citizens.     

Learning Politics From Social Media: Interconnection of Social Media Use for Political News and Political Issue and Process Knowledge

Drawing on a national survey of 1,157 South Korean adults, the present study finds that social media use for political news is positively associated with knowledge about political issues, but not with knowledge about political processes. Professional media use for political news is significantly associated with both political issue knowledge and political process knowledge. The impact of social media for news on political issue knowledge increases with the additive role of professional media news use. This study also finds that political talk strengthens the positive association between social media use for news and political issue knowledge.     

Knowledge Versus Beliefs: How Knowledge and Beliefs Mediate The Influence of Likeminded Media use on Political Polarization and Participation

Using cross-sectional data from the 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey, this study tests 2 models that explicate the relationship between politically likeminded media use and political polarization and participation. The knowledge model suggests that the effects of exposure to likeminded media on individuals’ attitudinal polarization and political participation are mediated by knowledge of candidate issue stances. The belief model proposes that likeminded media use indirectly influences political polarization and participation via political beliefs. The results provide evidence that individuals’ beliefs mediate the influence of likeminded media consumption on attitudinal polarization and participation, but there was no support for the knowledge model. These findings indicate that individuals who consume politically likeminded news tend to develop polarized attitudes and are motivated to participate in political activities by forming biased beliefs associated with candidates rather than by gaining factual issue knowledge.     

Online political participation,online contacts with out-groups members and social distances

In light of the growing role of social media in conflict management, the current study analyzes the interrelationship of online political participation of Israeli Jews, the frequency of their online contacts with Arabs, and Jews’ perceived social distances from Arabs. The research was conducted through an online survey of a representative sample of 458 Israeli Jews who use the social media at least 3 times a week. Overall, although causation cannot be inferred because of the correlational design of our study, results suggest that frequency of online contacts may positively affect closeness to Arabs in line with contact theory. In keeping with the socialization perspective of political engagement, the findings indicate that the impact of online political participation on social distances from Arabs was mediated by interactions between Jews and Arabs in the social media.     

Social Media as Primary Source

This article explores and critiques the use of social media as a primary source in the writing of twenty-first-century history. Since the introduction of so-called social media in the early 2000s, social scientists, journalists, and users have hailed this media form as a revolutionary departure from the ‘old media’ that dominated the twentieth century. Part of the narrative of ‘new media’ is it provides greater amounts of user agency, removes structural impediments for social dialog, and promotes an egalitarian exchange within the global sphere. This article suggests that this account is a product of the narrative structure of classical liberalism, through which social media as an object of knowledge and effectivity is produced. It concludes that the use of social media as a primary source for social histories of popular protest will require substantive theoretical scrutiny by scholars writing about these processes of the twenty-first century.     

Dual Screening: Examining Social Predictors and Impact on Online and Offline Political Participation Among Taiwanese Internet Users

This study investigates how social factors affect Taiwanese Internet users’ dual screening use and its impact on online and offline political participation. The Web survey recruits 961 dual screen users. Structural equation modeling results show that bridging social capital and perceived social presence are significantly associated with dual screening use. Dual screening is positively related to online and offline political participation. Dual screening use strongly influences offline political participation when mediated by online political participation. Moreover, alternative media trust is positively related to online political participation, whereas mainstream media trust shows a negative association.     

Pathways to Expressive and Collective Participation: Usage Patterns,Political Efficacy,and Political Participation in Social Networking Sites

This study assesses differences in use of social networking sites (SNSs) and relates them to different patterns of political participation, media use motivations, and political efficacy. Based on a Web survey of 1,230 South Korean voters, it finds that informational uses of SNSs are positively associated with expressive participation both online and offline, but not with collective participation. The use of SNSs for social interaction purposes was associated only with online expressive participation. Recreational uses had a negative or insignificant relationship with expressive and collective participation. Political efficacy moderated the impact of social interaction uses of SNSs on expressive participation both online and offline. The findings suggest that the political impact of SNSs is mostly limited to expressive participation and dependent upon users' motivations.     

Social Network Sites and Political Engagement: Exploring the Impact of Facebook Connections and Uses on Political Protest and Participation

Past studies have shown positive relationships between use of social network sites (SNSs) and political engagement, but an understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship is limited because the studies often did not take into account the diverse affordances of SNSs that can influence participation in different ways. Adopting the O-S-R-O-R (Orientation–Stimulus–Reasoning–Orientation–Response) model of political communication effects, this study examined the roles of Facebook network size, connections with public political actors, use for news, and political expression on political attitudes, protest, and participation. Structural equation analyses were conducted based on data from a national sample in Hong Kong, a city-state with one of the world’s highest Facebook penetration rates. Results showed that Facebook network size and connections with public political actors exhibit both direct and indirect effects on participation through Facebook news, expression, and efficacy. Facebook news exhibited indirect effects primarily though political expression. A discriminant function analysis also showed that age, education, and online news exposure were the most influential variables for distinguishing Facebook users and nonusers. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

社交媒体接触对社会运动参与的影响研究——基于政治自我概念的交互效应

社交媒体在全球社会运动与政治变革中发挥的作用已引起高度关注,不过其具体的影响机制仍不明确且充满争议。本文利用TCS2015年的数据,使用Logistic回归模型对社交媒体接触(自变量)与线上、线下社会运动参与(因变量)之间的关系进行实证分析,并引入"政治自我概念"中的一系列心理变量(政治知识、政治兴趣、内在政治效能感、外在政治效能感)对个体性差异进行检验。研究发现,社交媒体展现出显著的、不可被抵消的动员效应。政治知识不会单独对社会运动参与程度产生影响,但可以与社交媒体产生交互效应,放大其对运动参与的正向效应。内在政治效能感既会对社会运动参与产生正向影响,又能强化社交媒体的动员效应。线上、线下两种运动模式的作用机制大致类似,但存在微妙的差异。上述结果部分支持了研究假设,反映出社会运动往往是个体心理与新媒介工具共同作用的结果。这些结论放置于台湾社会的现实政治语境中,可以带来思考与启发。     

严肃议题的消解与重构--亚文化视域下的青少年政治社会议题传播

传统社会向信息社会转型的过程中,文化格局随之重塑。亚文化通过各种新媒体渠道广泛传播,从边缘地带走向繁荣。作为青少年群体的重要文化形式之一,亚文化对当代文化图谱有着独特的价值和贡献;但由于其政治性的局限,在政治传播议题中的论述还相对有限。青少年因大量时间被娱乐消费覆盖,政治参与呈现下降趋势。米姆作为社交媒体中流行文化的重要景观,大量出现在政治议题中,对识别和理解青少年亚文化有至关重要的作用。本文以青少年通过亚文化语言和符号参与在线公共议题的案例出发,探讨青少年在政治议题建构中的话语参与与认同构建;并探讨这种泛娱乐的参与方式中,公共性如何体现。研究认为,内容娱乐化的同时,米姆的政治功能也在逐渐凸显;亚文化参与代表了青少年对政治议题的多样化诉求,促进青少年对社会政治议题的关注和参与,融合且推进了个体表达与公共话语呈现,是兼具文化价值和政治意义的参与路径。     

Social media,legacy media and gatekeeping: the protest paradigm in news of Ferguson and Charlottesville

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the site of intersection between legacy and social media, whereby it asks how local legacy media (St Louis Post-Dispatch and Richmond Times-Dispatch) invoked social media (Facebook and Twitter) discourse within their coverage of the Ferguson (2014) and Charlottesville (2017) events. It thus explores how gatekeeping is manifested and, consequently, how the protest paradigm emerged in a news landscape of proliferating social media. Thematic textual analysis indicates that coverage of Charlottesville and Ferguson clearly relied on indulging the social media sphere in important ways. Common themes of social media as multipurpose platforms, as interfacing with law and order, and as reconciling material and digital modes culminating in social activism were revealed. The study shows that the protest paradigm that has long characterized legacy media’s coverage of social protest is not as “pure” as it may once have been, since a social media component is helping define the contours and content of legacy media’s landscape.     

The Effects of Mass Media Use and Social Capital on Civic and Political Participation

More recently, many scholars have lamented the decline of social capital, civic and political participation in American society. This study attempts to clarify the concept of social capital and its major components. We differentiate two dimensions of social capital: trust and social connectedness. In addition, we investigate the differential effects of a full range of media use on civic and political participation.

Analysis of data from a telephone survey in Clarksville, Tennessee in 2002 showed that people's social connectedness enhances both civic and political participation. Time spent in reading newspaper and watching public affairs on television was positively correlated with political participation whereas frequency of Internet use and entertainment TV viewing was not. The results also showed no correlation between media use and civic participation. Implications of the findings for future research on democratic citizenship were discussed.     

Mediating Roles of News Curation and News Elaboration in the Relationship between Social Media Use for News and Political Knowledge

Social media have opened up new possibilities for news engagement, and one of the important possibilities is news curation, which is defined as the reconstructing, reformulating, repurposing, reframing and sharing of news through social media. Focusing on this news curation concept, this study extends the Cognitive Mediation Model and the Communication Mediation Model (O-S-R-O-R) to the social media context. Drawing on a national survey of 1,135 South Korean adults, the present study finds that news elaboration and news curation are positively related to political knowledge and mediate the association between social media use for news and political knowledge.     

Communicating deviance: The effects of television news coverage of social protest

Past research raises concern that media coverage may unfairly bias the audience against social protesters by portraying them as deviant. Furthermore, negative treatment of protest groups may discourage protest as a form of democratic participation. To examine whether such concerns are indeed warranted, an experiment was conducted exposing 266 subjects to one of two television news stories about the same protest. Results indicate that subtle differences in the news stories led to significant differences in subjects’ perceptions of the protesters and police, but no differences in perceptions of the utility of social protest in general.     

Second Screening and Political Persuasion on Social Media

This article seeks to explain political persuasion in relation to second screening—people’s use of a second screen (i.e., smartphone/laptop) while watching television to access further information or discuss TV programs. Employing a two-wave-panel survey in the United States, results show this emergent practice makes people more open to changing their political opinions, particularly among those who habitually use social media for news or frequently interact with others in social media contexts.     

Online Media and Political Participation: The Case of Malaysia

This study is based on a survey of 526 adult Malaysians who were interviewed shortly before the 2008 national election about online media use, levels of political participation, and voting intentions. The goal was to document the role of online media in a society that controls political information in traditional media and, in turn, compels citizens to seek alternative news sources online. As predicted, the findings indicated that online media use was positively associated with higher levels of political participation among Malaysian voters. The use of and exposure to social networking sites, political blogs, political online videos, party websites, and political ads on cell phones showed strong associations with political activism. However, the use of political online media did not predict voters’ likelihood of voting.     

Mediation or Moderation? Examining How Politically Like-Minded and Dissimilar Conversations Influence the Relationship Between Social Media Political Information Consumption and Political Participation

Research has shown that social media conversations with like-minded and politically dissimilar others are an important part of the political process. Yet more needs to be done to clarify the roles that these two types of social media-based conversations play in the political process. A stratified quota online survey was used to determine whether politically like-minded and dissimilar conversations mediate or moderate the relationship between social media-based political information consumption and political participation. Findings show support for the mediating, but not moderating role of politically based social media conversations. Social media political information consumption has a positive indirect relationship with political participation via both politically like-minded and dissimilar conversations. Contrary to previous research showing that politically dissimilar conversations impede political participation, results suggest that such conversations actually increase political participation. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Political Discussion,Political News,and Internet Use: Factors of Media Trust in South Korea

This study examines political and communicative factors predicting trust in mainstream newspapers and television by analyzing a set of survey data collected in South Korea. The results show that supporters of the opposition party are less likely to trust the mainstream news media than supporters of the ruling party. Daily Internet use negatively predicted trust in media only for nonpartisans. However, for supporters of the opposition party, daily Internet use moderated the interaction effect between political discussion and exposure to political news on trust in media.     

Biased into posting: interactions with social media network political posts during the 2016 U.S. presidential election

The 2016 U.S. presidential election saw social media continue to play an important role in citizens’ political engagement. This study examines the effect of seeing social media political post sharing on individuals’ own political post sharing. Results from a two-wave survey suggest the interplay within the network is important. Seeing others share political posts and perceiving posts were biased towards a candidate predicted sharing political posts.