Nils Gustafsson
elite networks, political communication & social media
The Usual Suspects? Swedish Social Media Users and Political Participation
Författare
Summary, in English
Does the mere use of social media services such as Facebook lead to new groups of citizens taking part in politics, or do we see a steady interest from the “usual suspects” of political participation research, adding new channels to exert influence? Is there a generational factor at hand, where young people, the “digital natives”, are exchanging old ways of interacting with the political system for “clicktivism” – or is the dichotomy of old and new forms of participation a false one?
This preliminary study shows that for young Swedes, social media is a more popular channel for participating than traditional forms. However, it is also clear that socio-economic factors are still important predictors for participation, online or offline.
Avdelning/ar
- Institutionen för strategisk kommunikation
Publiceringsår
2011
Språk
Engelska
Dokumenttyp
Konferensbidrag
Ämne
- Political Science
Nyckelord
- social media
- political participation
- social network sites
Conference name
ECPR 6th General Conference, 2011
Conference date
2011-08-25 - 2011-08-27
Conference place
Reykjavik, Iceland
Status
Unpublished
Projekt
- Viral politik. Politisk mobilisering i sociala medier