The Civic and Political Significance of Online Participatory Cultures among Youth Transitioning to Adulthood

ABSTRACT Much scholarship has examined how accessing news and other civic and politically oriented online activities can influence offline civic and political behaviors. Much less is known about the influence of nonpolitical online activity on civic and political practices. We found that youth engagement in some forms of nonpolitical online activity can serve as a gateway to participation in civic and political life, including volunteering, community problem solving, protest activities, and political voice. Unlike most prior work in this area that relies on convenience samples and cross-sectional data, we draw on two large panel studies, so we are able to control for prior levels of civic and political engagement. With such controls in place and with controls for a full range of demographic variables, we find that relationships between participation in nonpolitical online participatory cultures on the one hand and civic and political participation on the other remain statistically significant for both datasets. While politically driven online participation is clearly also worthy of attention, our findings indicate that it should not be seen as the only relevant bridge from online activity to civic and political engagement.

[1]  R. Niemi,et al.  Generations and Politics , 2014 .

[2]  Mario Guerrero,et al.  Facebook and political engagement: A study of online political group membership and offline political engagement , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[3]  Nam-Jin Lee,et al.  Youth online activity and exposure to diverse perspectives , 2012, New Media Soc..

[4]  Deborah F. Deale,et al.  Women and Gaming , 2012, Int. J. Gaming Comput. Mediat. Simulations.

[5]  M. Skoric,et al.  Platforms for mediated sociability and online social capital: the role of Facebook and massively multiplayer online games , 2011 .

[6]  Nakwon Jung,et al.  The Mediating Role of Knowledge and Efficacy in the Effects of Communication on Political Participation , 2011 .

[7]  Wessel Badenhorst,et al.  Hearing the other side , 2011 .

[8]  D. Campbell,et al.  Why We Vote: How Schools and Communities Shape Our Civic Life , 2010 .

[9]  Marta Cantijoch,et al.  Online Political Participation in Spain: The Impact of Traditional and Internet Resources , 2010 .

[10]  Tabora A. Johnson.  Black Youth Rising: Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America by Shawn Ginwright (review) , 2010 .

[11]  Henry Milner,et al.  The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts , 2010 .

[12]  James Paul Gee,et al.  Women and Gaming: The Sims and 21st Century Learning , 2010 .

[13]  Jody C. Baumgartner,et al.  MyFaceTube Politics , 2010 .

[14]  Patricia G. Lange,et al.  Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media . , 2010 .

[15]  David R. Brake,et al.  ON THE RAPID RISE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: NEW FINDINGS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS , 2010 .

[16]  Henry E. Brady,et al.  The Internet and Civic Engagement , 2009 .

[17]  J. Earl,et al.  Movement Societies and Digital Protest: Fan Activism and Other Nonpolitical Protest Online* , 2009 .

[18]  Kerk F. Kee,et al.  Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students’ Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation 1 , 2009 .

[19]  Luisa Doldi,et al.  Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth , 2009 .

[20]  Joseph Kahne,et al.  The Civic Potential of Video Games , 2009 .

[21]  Shelley Boulianne.  Does Internet Use Affect Engagement? A Meta-Analysis of Research , 2009 .

[22]  Diana C. Mutz,et al.  Online Groups and Political Discourse: Do Online Discussion Spaces Facilitate Exposure to Political Disagreement? , 2009 .

[23]  Dhavan V. Shah,et al.  Communication Competence as a Foundation for Civic Competence: Processes of Socialization into Citizenship , 2009 .

[24]  Dhavan V. Shah,et al.  COMMUNICATION THEORY Communication Theory ISSN 1050-3293 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Campaigns, Reflection, and Deliberation: Advancing an O-S-R-O-R Model of Communication Effects , 2022 .

[25]  A.M.J. Derks.  Post-broadcast democracy: How media choice increases inequality in political involvement and polarizes elections , 2009 .

[26]  Ellen Middaugh,et al.  Online Localities: Implications for - Democracy and Education , 2009 .

[27]  R. Dalton,et al.  The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation Is Reshaping American Politics , 2008 .

[28]  Stuart G. Walesh,et al.  The Dumbest Generation—How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future , 2008 .

[29]  Bill Bishop,et al.  The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart , 2008 .

[30]  Russell J. Dalton,et al.  Virtual Civil Society: The New Frontier of Social Capital? , 2008 .

[31]  Alexandra Rankin Macgill,et al.  Teens and social media , 2008 .

[32]  M. Delgado,et al.  Youth-led community organizing : theory and action , 2008 .

[33]  W. Bennett.  Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age , 2008 .

[34]  Michael A. Xenos,et al.  Direct and Differential Effects of the Internet on Political and Civic Engagement , 2007 .

[35]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  The Benefits of Facebook "Friends: " Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[36]  C. Sunstein.  Republic.com 2.0 , 2007 .

[37]  Hernando Rojas,et al.  NET Being Early on the Curve : Online Practices and Expressive Political Participation , 2007 .

[38]  Mark Hugo Lopez,et al.  Civic Engagement among Young Men and Women. , 2007 .

[39]  Dmitri Williams,et al.  Groups and Goblins: The Social and Civic Impact of an Online Game , 2006 .

[40]  Henry Jenkins.  Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century , 2006 .

[41]  Daniel A. McFarland,et al.  Bowling Young: How Youth Voluntary Associations Influence Adult Political Participation , 2006 .

[42]  S. Keeter,et al.  A New Engagement , 2006 .

[43]  S. Keeter,et al.  A New Engagement?: Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen , 2006 .

[44]  Luke Keele,et al.  Dynamic Models for Dynamic Theories: The Ins and Outs of Lagged Dependent Variables , 2006, Political Analysis.

[45]  William P. Eveland,et al.  Information and Expression in a Digital Age , 2005, Commun. Res..

[46]  C. Halaby,et al.  Panel Models in Sociological Research: Theory into Practice , 2004 .

[47]  Stuart W. Shulman,et al.  Digital Citizenship , 2004 .

[48]  M. Jennings,et al.  Internet Use and Civic Engagement: A Longitudinal Analysis , 2003 .

[49]  Caroline J. Tolbert,et al.  Unraveling the Effects of the Internet on Political Participation? , 2003 .

[50]  Scott Keeter,et al.  Habits from Home, Lessons from School: Influences on Youth Civic Engagement , 2003, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[51]  Markus Prior,et al.  Any Good News in Soft News? The Impact of Soft News Preference on Political Knowledge , 2003 .

[52]  Bruce Bimber.  Information and American Democracy: Contents , 2003 .

[53]  Martín Sánchez-Jankowski.  Minority Youth and Civic Engagement: The Impact of Group Relations , 2002 .

[54]  Arla G. Bernstein.  The Private Roots of Public Action: Gender, Equality, and Political Participation (review) , 2002 .

[55]  Brian S. Krueger.  Assessing the Potential of Internet Political Participation in the United States , 2002 .

[56]  Pippa Norris,et al.  The Bridging and Bonding Role of Online Communities , 2002 .

[57]  N. Nie.  Sociability, Interpersonal Relations, and the Internet , 2001 .

[58]  Dhavan V. Shah,et al.  "Connecting" and "Disconnecting" With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital , 2001 .

[59]  Diana C. Mutz,et al.  Facilitating Communication across Lines of Political Difference: The Role of Mass Media , 2001, American Political Science Review.

[60]  Nancy Burns,et al.  The Private Roots of Public Action: Gender, Equality, and Political Participation , 2001 .

[61]  Robert D. Putnam,et al.  Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community , 2000, CSCW '00.

[62]  M. D. Carpini.  Gen.com: Youth, Civic Engagement, and the New Information Environment , 2000 .

[63]  Tobi Walker.  The Service/Politics Split: Rethinking Service to Teach Political Engagement* , 2000, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[64]  Robert O. Wyatt,et al.  Bridging the spheres: political and personal conversation in public and private spaces , 2000 .

[65]  Elizabeth Smith,et al.  The Effects of Investments in theSocial Capital of Youth on Political and Civic Behavior in Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Analysis , 1999 .

[66]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Internet paradox. A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? , 1998, The American psychologist.

[67]  D. Hindman.  The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier , 1996 .

[68]  Henry E. Brady,et al.  Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics , 1996 .

[69]  Steven J. Rosenstone,et al.  Mobilization, participation, and democracy in America , 1993 .

[70]  O. Ichilov,et al.  Political socialization, citizenship education, and democracy , 1991 .

[71]  P. Dreier,et al.  The Limits of Localism , 1990 .

[72]  Marsha L. Brauen,et al.  Political Socialization , 1977 .

[73]  N. Nie,et al.  PSR volume 66 issue 3 Cover and Front matter , 1972, American Political Science Review.

[74]  I. Fras.  Identity: Youth and Crisis , 1968 .

[75]  E. Erikson.  Identity, youth, and crisis , 1968 .

[76]  B. Rosenberg,et al.  Democracy in America , 1961 .