How the Internet has changed participation: Exploring distinctive preconditions of online activism

Abstract

The continuously growing number of people participating in Internet-based, online, political activism suggests that the latter has the potential to replace offline forms of unconventional political participation in the future. If that is the case, it is essential to understand the nature and objectives of such type of participation. This article addresses the question of distinctive preconditions of online activism. As a result of the mixed-effect logistic regression analysis of the European Social Survey data, it was found that online activism contrasts with other unconventional types of political participation in respect to the effect of social trust. It is suggested that the key differences between the preconditions of online and offline forms of participation may speak in favour of several phenomena. First of all, it is proposed that social networking services (SNSs) managed to create an illusion of directness of political participation. Secondly, new groups of people with the lower risk preferences may be recruited into online political action. Lastly, groups that do not believe in the effectiveness of political participation or that have other motives, such as a search for attention, may be more likely to participate online. The results call for further research on how SNSs reshape how people understand political engagement and how they want to be involved.

Expansion of the core business of traditional media companies in Spain through SVOD services

“…A first step in this strategic plan to expand the core business was the adaptation of the business towards digital distribution by relaunching Atresplayer Premium. Mediaset Spain also mentions the culmination of its transformation into an audiovisual company in 2020 (Mediaset, 2021a), presenting three axes: promoting profitability on the internet (Kopacheva, 2021) alongside the promotion of alliances in production and exploitation of audiovisual Alcolea-Díaz, G., Marín-Lladó, C. & Cervi, L. Expansion of the core business of traditional media companies in Spain through SVOD services content, all targeting diversification away from a dependence on advertising. The creation of the OTT services Mitele Plus and Mediterráneo Audiovisual can be framed within this strategic pillar, and it is within this context that the attempt to merge with its Italian parent company Mediaset can be justified.…”

The resource model of political participation 2.0 Protesting in semi-authoritarian regimes – A privilege of the privileged

“…Dozens of empirical studies (see Section 2 for examples) on explanatory factors of civic engagement have been conducted since the publication of "Voice and 1 Although, alternative arguments have also been raised. For example, it has been suggested that high levels of participation lead to a fragmentation of the political process, which makes it harder to reach a consensus and implement policies (Lijphart, 1977).…”

“…The Civic Voluntarism Model (CVM) (Verba et al, 1995) as described by Verba et al is not a comprehensive model of political participation. Instead, it is a model of factors that enhance (rather than explain) participation 1 . The original version of CVM (summarised by the diagram in Figure 2.1) includes three groups of factors that enhance political participation.…”

“…Due to historical sexism, women used to have fewer civic skills as of the end of the 20th century. 1 In their mentioned and subsequent research, the scholars stated, on several occasions, that certain groups of people are more likely to participate politically due to their personalities. Thus, the factors comprising CVM have been reported to enhance, rather than explain, participation (Verba et al, 1995).…”

“…lead to more inclusive and representative decision-making (Barber, 1984), as well as increased accountability of elected officials (de Tocqueville, 1835) 1 .…”