Ma Lai Yee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-109). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstract (English version) --- p.ii / Abstract (Chinese version) --- p.iii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Political use of the Internet: Utopian or distopian? --- p.1 / Virtual communities and social movements --- p.4 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Political and Technological Landscape in Hong Kong / Chapter I) --- Political Background / The Handover of Hong Kong to China in1997 --- p.7 / The Tradition of Pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong --- p.8 / The 1 July Rally in2003 --- p.9 / Chapter II) --- Technological Background / Internet Penetration in Hong Kong --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Review of Literature / Chapter I) --- "Internet, Uses and Gratifications and political effects" / The Uses and Gratifications Approach: Theoretical assumptions --- p.14 / Uses and Gratifications and the Internet --- p.15 / Gratifications and Political media use --- p.17 / "Internet usage, Gratifications and Political effects" --- p.19 / Chapter II) --- "Social movement, collective identity and the Internet" / Social Movements in contemporary social context --- p.23 / Collective Identity in Social Movements --- p.26 / Identity Formation in Computer-mediated Communication --- p.28 / The Internet as a Social Movement Medium --- p.30 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Cyberactivism in Hong Kong / 1 July Protest and Cyber Activism in Hong Kong --- p.36 / The Case: Yumkung.com --- p.38 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Methodology / Research Design and Sampling --- p.44 / Survey Sample Profile --- p.45 / Content Analysis --- p.46 / Textual Analysis --- p.47 / Measurements of variables --- p.48 / Analytical Procedures --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Results and Interpretations / Gratifications of Yumkung.com from Survey --- p.52 / Gratifications of Yumkung. com from Content Analysis --- p.54 / Collective Identity from textual Analysis --- p.60 / Correlational Analysis of Collective Identity --- p.71 / Predictors of Collective Identity --- p.74 / Correlational Analysis of past political participations --- p.77 / Predictors of past political participations --- p.80 / Correlational Analysis of intentions for future political participations --- p.82 / Predictors of intentions for political participations --- p.85 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Discussions and Conclusions / Uses and Gratifications and its Theoretical Contribution --- p.88 / Collective Identity Formation in Yumkung.com --- p.92 / Political Participations among Participants in Yumkung.com --- p.94 / Theoretical and Practical Implications --- p.99 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research --- p.102 / References --- p.105 / Appendix 1 Questionnaire --- p.110 / Appendix 2 Coding Guide of Content Analysis --- p.115 / "Appendix 3 Invitation letter to Mr. Paul Lin, Yumkung.com's Webmaster" --- p.117

Since the emergence of the Internet, scholars have had mixed opinions regarding its role in influencing levels of political participation. Two frameworks, the mobilization and the reinforcement theses, were created from these opposing views. The introduction of social networking websites (such as Facebook) offers new platforms with which to test these opposing theories on. This study investigates the Facebook group ―Canadian‘s against Proroguing Parliament,‖ to determine: 1) what the members' motivations were for participating in the group, 2) whether the group attracted formerly marginalized voices to participate on the group, or simply reinforced those who were already active in the political process, and 3) whether the participation of members on the group translated into offline or real world political participation. The findings suggest that the group‘s members had a variety of reasons for joining the group. As well, the findings suggest that the group both mobilized reinforced its participants. Finally, the data indicates that in some instances, the group‘s members translated their online participation into real world political activity. / 171 leaves ; 29 cm

This thesis explores the implications of the Internet for democracy, re-evaluating the various claims and counter-claims that have been made for the Internet's democratic potential. Based on a framework to measure democracy that emphasises popular control and political equality, it assesses whether the Internet gives a greater and more representative share of the population the opportunity to participate in the political process by focusing on use of the Internet to contact political representatives. The analysis combines secondary analysis of population surveys with original data collected in two online surveys from more than 14,000 users of successful contact facilitation platforms in the UK (WriteToThem.com) and Germany (Abgeordnetenwatch.de) that enable sending messages to representatives. The results show that in both countries the Internet in general has only marginally increased the number of people engaged in contacting. At the same time, contact facilitation platforms as specific online applications have attracted large numbers of people who have never before contacted a representative. While all online means of contacting primarily amplify traditional participatory biases, such as for gender and education, they can at least selectively engage traditionally under-represented parts of the population, for example young people or low-income groups. The processes that shape these patterns are identified by developing a basic theory of contacting and using the similarities and differences between the findings for the two countries. It demonstrates not only that participation continues to be dominated by traditional determinants that cannot be completely overcome by technology, but also that Internet applications can shape participation patterns – if designed to appropriately adapt to the context in which they operate, which is rarely the case. This highlights the need to think carefully about how online platforms can be used, building on the – albeit limited – gains identified here, to strengthen them as a means of ensuring democratic participation.

Concerns about the feasibility of the Internet as an appropriate venue for deliberation have emerged based on the adverse effects of depersonalization, anonymity, and lack of accountability on the part of online discussants. As in face-to-face communication, participants in online conversations are best situated to determine for themselves what type of communication is appropriate. Earlier research on Usenet groups was not optimistic, but community-administered moderation may provide a valuable tool for online political discussion groups who wish to support and enforce deliberative communication among a diverse or disagreeing membership. This research examines individual comments and their rating and moderation within a week-long "Pie Fight" discussion about community ownership and values in the Daily Kos political blog. Specific components of deliberation were identified and a content analysis was conducted for each. Salient issues included community reputation, agreement and disagreement, meta-communication, and appropriate expression of emotion, humor, and profanity. Data subsets were analyzed in conjunction with the comment ratings given by community members to determine what types of interaction received the most attention, and how the community used the comment ratings system to promote or demote specific comment types. The use of middle versus high or low ratings, the value of varied ratings format, and the use of moderation as a low-impact means of expressing dissent were also explored. The Daily Kos community members effectively used both comments and ratings to mediate conflict, assert their desired kind of community, demonstrate a deliberative self-concept, and support specific conditions of deliberation. The moderation system was used to sanction uncivil or unproductive communication, as intended, and was also shown to facilitate deliberation of disagreement rather than creating an echo chamber of opinion.

Social Networking Sites (SNS) have extremely high rates of young adult users. Facebook.com report.s that more than half of its users are of college age. Due to the increasing number of political figures and political information on SNS, this study analyzes the relationship between SNS and political engagement. Specifically, this study seeks to determine if adults' consumption of political information on SNS leads to higher levels of political engagement. Political engagement is broken down into three different variables: political knowledge, political interest, and political participation. This study draws its data from a sample of 355 undergraduate college students. Data was collected through a volunteer self-administered survey questionnaire. Three sections respectively measured political engagement, social networking site dependency for political information, and demographic information. Data were collected from a junior college and a private university in Northern California. This study found a positive relationship between SNS dependency for political information and political interest and participation. In other words, individuals who depend on SNS for political information have higher levels of political interest and participation. There was no significant relationship found between political knowledge and SNS dependency. These results suggest that SNS may help foster political engagement in young adults.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the events that occurred throughout the Egyptian Revolution from January 2010 to February 2010 through pragmatic humanism. Tweets will be looked at from the book Tweets from Tahrir to show how the process unfolded. Building on the previous research, the tweets will be looked at through the lens of pragmatic humanism. The study will show how individuals can better the world they live in by experimenting with different methods and adapting to any failures they may encounter. The study will also show how the reach of the individual has become faster and further than previously possible. The elements of pragmatic humanism will be broken down into five main tenets. The study will take a thematic approach in analyzing the tweets through the perspective of the particular tenet. The study will also show the power of individual desires when they are able to combine with the social context of the time. The advent of Twitter has allowed individuals to test and experiment with hypotheses much quicker than before and allows them to make monumental changes to their reality in a much shorter period of time. / Graduation date: 2013

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

Digital rights activism constitutes an exemplary case of how internet affordances can be mobilised to engender political change. The values and principles stemming from the hacker imaginaire, and free and open source software practices, underpin digital rights activism, which uses the internet as a tool, object and platform for the protection of rights in the digital realm. The analysis focuses on how digital rights activists use and adapt the political affordances of the internet to intervene in European Union policy-making. Two original case studies of internet-based campaigning at the European level (the “No Software Patents” and the “Telecoms package” campaigns) provide in-depth insight into the campaigning processes and their impact upon parliamentary politics. The cases highlight the complementarity of online and offline collective action, by examining processes of open collaboration, information disclosure and internet-assisted lobbying. The success of the “Telecoms package” campaign is then assessed, along with the perspective of the targets: members and staff of the European Parliament.<p><p>The belief in values of freedom, decentralisation, openness, creativity and progress inspires a particular type of activism, which promotes autonomy, participation and efficiency. The empirical evidence suggests that this set of principles can, at times, conflict with practices observed in the field. This has to do with the particular opportunity structure of the European Union and the characteristics of the movement. The EU favours functional integration of civil society actors who are expected to contribute technical and/or legal expertise. This configuration challenges internet-based protest networks that rely on highly independent and fluctuating engagement, and suffer from a lack of diversity and cohesion. The internet does not solve all obstacles to collective action. It provides, however, a networked infrastructure and tools for organising, coordinating and campaigning. Online and offline actions are not only supportive of each other. Internet-based campaigning can be successful once it reaches out beyond the internet, and penetrates the corridors of political institutions.<p> / Doctorat en Information et communication / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished