It's complicated: Facebook users' political participation in the 2008 election

Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking
Jessica VitakCliff Lampe

Abstract

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" of a candidate) is a significant predictor of other forms of political participation (e.g., volunteering for an organizing, signing a paper or online petition), and that a number of factors--including intensity of Facebook use and the political activity users see their friends performing on the site-...Continue Reading

References

May 1, 1968·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Anita K Lampel, Norman H Anderson

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Citations

Sep 26, 2012·Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking·Timothy Macafee, J J De Simone
May 18, 2013·Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking·Ho Keat Leng
Feb 27, 2013·PloS One·Jason J JonesJames H Fowler
Mar 13, 2014·Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking·Sean D YoungMohammad Sadegh Montazeri
Feb 3, 2015·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Mindi D Foster
Jun 22, 2016·Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking·Sanne KruikemeierSophie C Boerman
Jul 1, 2020·Psychological Reports·Tali Gazit, Yair Amichai-Hamburger
Apr 22, 2015·American Journal of Community Psychology·Michela LenziMassimo Santinello
Jun 15, 2018·Europe's Journal of Psychology·Augusta Isabella Alberici, Patrizia Milesi
Dec 8, 2020·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Mindi D FosterKimberly Matheson

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Software Mentioned

News Feed
MySpace
Facebook News Feed
Zoomerang
TakingITGlobal

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