Authors
Jessica Vitak, Paul Zube, Andrew Smock, Caleb T Carr, Nicole Ellison, Cliff Lampe
Publication date
2011/3/1
Journal
CyberPsychology, behavior, and social networking
Volume
14
Issue
3
Pages
107-114
Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Description
In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, social network sites such as Facebook allowed users to share their political beliefs, support specific candidates, and interact with others on political issues. But do political activities on Facebook affect political participation among young voters, a group traditionally perceived as apathetic in regard to civic engagement? Or do these activities represent another example of feel-good participation that has little real-world impact, a concept often referred to as “slacktivism”? Results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 683) at a large public university in the Midwestern United States conducted in the month prior to the election found that students tend to engage in lightweight political participation both on Facebook and in other venues. Furthermore, two OLS regressions found that political activity on Facebook (e.g., posting a politically oriented status update, becoming a “fan …
Total citations
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Scholar articles
J Vitak, P Zube, A Smock, CT Carr, N Ellison, C Lampe - CyberPsychology, behavior, and social networking, 2011