There can be no doubt: human activities are the unequivocal cause of contemporary global warming (IPCC, 2023). The effects of anthropogenic climate change are already being felt worldwide, including loss and damage to both human and natural systems, with vulnerable populations bearing a disproportionate burden (IPCC, 2023). As younger generations will experience the impacts of climate change more severely in scope, severity, and duration, urgent action is necessary to mitigate and adapt to its effects. The fact that so many young people are actively advocating for climate action clearly indicates the urgency of the matter. The time for action is now, and urgent steps must be taken to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change before it is too late. Consequently, youth voices on climate change have never been more critical or widely publicized. The study of youth climate activists has grown significantly in recent years, but there is still a debate regarding their role in addressing climate change through political participation. Studying youth climate activism is essential to understanding how and why they have become such an influential force in the movement. In this dissertation, I investigate what drives young people to lead in the climate movement, examining what elevates youth concern about climate change, the role of family, friends, and schools in shaping youth climate activism, and how youth activists construct their climate action networks. Through two qualitative and one quantitative analysis, this research contributes to the ongoing debate surrounding youth participation in political action on climate change. The findings emphasize the need to address structural inequalities and promote youth agency in climate education and activism, highlighting the challenges of intergenerational organizing. We must embrace the involvement of young people in the political process and provide them with the necessary platforms to express their views and contribute to climate policy development. Only by doing so can we hope to create a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations. Climate Change Concern Among Youth: Examining the role of civics and institutional trust across 22 countries Although scholars have long documented perceptions of climate change and the public’s evolving response to the perceived risk it poses, these analyses have only recently begun examining youth and their views of the issue. Given that education has traditionally been considered a long-term strategy to promote sustainability among youth, this article conducts a cross-national and comparative study of students from 22 countries to evaluate factors commonly associated with youth perceptions of climate change as a threat to the world’s future. In doing so, this study finds that promoting institutional trust and civic knowledge may increase student climate change concern to a greater degree than other, more emphasized, curricular, and co-curricular environmental school opportunities. These new findings reveal potential pathways for future climate change education research, policy, and practice to help promote greater climate awareness and action among youth. Beyond Traditional Pathways: Understanding Youth Mobilization and Climate Activism in the Face of Inequality Scholars agree that family, friends, and schools play an essential role in the political socialization and mobilization of youth into activism. Research on these sites, however, overlooked two critical issues. First, family, friends, and schools vary in capacity and provide different resources and support. Second, this inequality means that youth agency is necessary to navigate their way into activism. In this study, I explore the processes of youth becoming climate activists. Drawing on 40 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with young climate activists in New York City, I argue there are multiple pathways to climate activism, which are shaped simultaneously by broader inequality and youth agency. Inequalities embedded within social structures – e.g., family, friends, and schools – spur youth to seek alternative pathways toward climate activism, including peer-to-peer organizing. These pathways have significant implications for how educators and social movements engage young people in learning and addressing climate change issues. Networks of Change in the In-Between: Bridging and Brokering within the Youth Climate Movement Scholars emphasize that overlapping networks and affiliations are important predictors of individual and collective participation in social movements. However, we know very little about networks that emerge through activism. The youth climate movement is witnessing diverse forms of youth participation and intergenerational coalitions. Little is known about how youth activists construct their climate action networks and what it means to be part of such networks, especially given the potential for intergenerational activist networks. To address this gap, this study uses in-depth interviews with 40 New York youth climate activists to explore how youth navigate organizing climate action between schools and movement organizations. The study employs a qualitative, mixed analysis design that includes thematic analysis and social network analysis to reveal the cross-organizational interactions of youth and the issue of adultism in the climate movement. The findings indicate that youth activists bridge schools and social movement organizations to form coalitions by leveraging their personal and collective youth power as 'in-between' activists. As a result, they can broker movement goals and coordinate actions by synthesizing information across the network. However, youth activists also face conflicting experiences with adult actors that diminish their potential for equitable organizing.

Democratic theorists delineate several requirements for mass publics in democratic societies. These include holding policy preferences, deliberating over competing viewpoints, and making informed choices. This dissertation contributes to debates about the public’s performance in each of these areas. In the first chapter, I argue that a statistical method that has been used to characterize the public’s ideological consistency has produced misleading results. In the second, I demonstrate that two aspects of Americans’ social networks differ in their relationships to important political attitudes necessary for productive deliberation. In the third, I show that Americans with politically diverse social networks trust more of the content they encounter on social media but are no more likely to discern truth from falsehood or respond to accuracy nudging interventions. In total, this dissertation employs analytical, observational, and experimental research methods to address questions that concern old and new threats to mass democratic behavior in the United States.

現代信息技術，以其多元、快速的優勢使人們對中國的民主抱以樂觀的態度。公民參與是一個健康的民主制度的核心要素，如何促進公民的政治參與一直是政治參與研究領域的焦點問題。在互聯網時代，尤其是社交媒體的出現，其廉價、方便、互動性的技術優勢大大增加了政治參與的可行性。大學學生是“互聯網一代“和中國知識分子的代表。因此，了解他們的社會媒體使用行為如何影響其政治知識、政治感知和政治行為、對於認識未來中國的政治變革是重要的。本研究提出“社交媒體使用“及“在線新聞使用“兩個概念，並以此視作政治參與和民主實踐研究範疇下的新討論焦點。 / 本研究主要探討以下問題：（1）大學生通過何種渠道在線獲取新聞;（2）大學生使用不同的媒體平台獲取新聞的情況如何；（3）在線新聞使用同傳統新聞媒體使用之間的關係如何;（4）計算機能力，互聯網自我效能感，在線和離線新聞使用，社交媒體使用，政治知識，政治效能，政治信任和政治參與等核心變量之間的關係； 以及（5）計算機能力，互聯網自我效能感，在線和離線新聞使用，社交媒體使用之於政治知識、政治感知和政治參與的相對重要性。 / 本研究採用定量的研究方法。研究的主體是對中國大陸在校大學本科及研究生進行問卷調查；調查前，焦點小組輔助研究結構建立與問卷設計。問卷調查採用多階層整群抽樣的方法，在北京抽取了兩所“elite工程“大學，在長春及杭州各抽取一所非“elite工程“大學的學生參與，樣本數量為624人。研究結果顯示，當中97.4% 的受訪者均使用互聯網獲取新聞。因子分析結果顯示，中國內地大學生主要經由三種信息渠道在線獲取新聞，分別是海外新聞渠道、社交媒體渠道，以及官方新聞渠道。不同信息渠道的使用者其政治常識、政治效能和政治信任亦有所區別。同時，本研究還發現傳統新聞同網絡新聞的使用之間存在互補的關係。 / 研究結果顯示，人口學變量超越社交媒體和在線新聞使用兩個變量對中國內地大學生的政治認知及政治知識的形成發揮最重要的作用。研究還發現社交媒體和在線新聞在促進線上和線下政治參與方面具有很大潛力。結論部分將詳述本研究的貢獻與實踐意義。 / Citizen participation is a core element of a healthy democracy, and what facilitates citizens’ political activities has long been a central interest in political participation research. In the age of the Internet, especially with the appearance of social media, political participation is greatly facilitated by technology that makes information inexpensive, accessible, and interactive. Modern information technology, with its pluralism and fast speed, has made people optimistic about democracy. University students represent the Net generation and intellectuals in China; therefore, understanding how their social media use affects political knowledge, perception, and participation is valuable, to bring political change to China in the future. / Expanding the line of previous research, this study aims to address the question of the democratic implications of social media use and online news seeking from the vantage point of how individuals seek news online and how such use may be related to several key indications of individuals’ engagement in political life as citizens. Specifically, this study examines (a) the sources through which university students seek news online; (b) to what degree university students in China use different media platforms to seek news; (c) how online news seeking is related to its offline counterpart; (d) the relationships among computer competence, Internet efficacy, online and offline news seeking, social media use, political knowledge, political efficacy, political trust, and political participation; and (e) the relative influence of technological attributes, social media use, and online and offline news seeking on political attributes and political participation. / In this study, we used quantitative questionnaire surveys among university students. The questionnaire surveys were based on a stratified cluster sampling of two elite universities in Beijing and two ordinary universities in Changchun and Hangzhou. The final sample consisted of 624 university students, of whom 97.2% had used online news. Factor analysis identified three major sources of online news seeking among university students: official sources, overseas sources, and social media sources. Adopting these sources seems to affect students’ political knowledge, perception, and participation differently. Also, the supplement effect was found between online and offline news seeking. / Results also showed that demographics, rather than social media use and online news seeking, have the most power to predict political perception and knowledge among Chinese university students, and online news seeking and social media use have great potential in facilitating political engagement online and offline. How the social media use and online news seeking change the mode of state-society interactions and expands forms of political engagement are also discussed. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Zheng, Pei. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.iii / 致謝 --- p.iv / List of Tables and Figures --- p.4 / Chapter Chapter 1 --- : Introduction --- p.1 / Research Methods --- p.9 / Main Contents of Each Chapter --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- : Literature Review --- p.12 / Internet as a Public Sphere --- p.13 / Technology between State and Society --- p.15 / History of Technology Empowerment Since Modern China --- p.15 / Political Control over the Internet --- p.16 / Internet Empowerment of Society --- p.20 / Political Participation --- p.23 / Offline Political Participation --- p.24 / Online Political Participation --- p.25 / Social Media Use, and Offline and Online News Seeking --- p.27 / Social Media Use and Political Participation --- p.27 / Online News Seeking --- p.29 / Offline News Seeking vs. Online News Seeking --- p.32 / Computer Competence and Internet Efficacy --- p.33 / Computer Competence --- p.33 / Internet Efficacy --- p.35 / Political Knowledge --- p.37 / Political Efficacy --- p.38 / Political Trust --- p.42 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- : Research Methods --- p.57 / Questionnaire Survey --- p.57 / Sampling procedure and survey participants --- p.57 / Final sample profiles --- p.62 / Pilot tests --- p.64 / Measures --- p.64 / Internet efficacy. --- p.64 / Computer competence. --- p.65 / Social media use. --- p.65 / Online news seeking. --- p.66 / Offline news seeking. --- p.67 / Political efficacy. --- p.68 / Political knowledge. --- p.69 / Political trust. --- p.70 / Political participation. --- p.70 / Demographics. --- p.71 / Analytical Procedure --- p.72 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- : News Seeking Behaviors --- p.73 / Online News Seeking --- p.73 / News Consumption Online vs. Offline --- p.76 / Relationship Between Online and Offline News Seeking --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- : Assessing Factors Influencing Political Participation --- p.79 / Linking Social Media Use and Online News Seeking to Political Attributes. --- p.79 / Linking Computer Competence, and Internet Efficacy to Social Media Use 1.1 and Online News Seeking --- p.84 / Computer competence --- p.84 / Internet efficacy --- p.85 / Linking Online News Seeking, Political Knowledge, Political Efficacy, 1.1 Political Trust and Political Participation --- p.87 / Political knowledge --- p.87 / Political efficacy --- p.88 / Political trust --- p.89 / Research questions --- p.90 / Predicting Political Knowledge, Efficacy and Trust --- p.91 / Predicting Political Participation --- p.97 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- : Discussion and Conclusion --- p.102 / Contributions of This Study --- p.102 / Complementary effect of offline and online news --- p.102 / Three sources of online news seeking --- p.104 / Potential of social media use and online news seeking to promote 1.1.1 online political participation --- p.107 / Political attributes: Demographic determined. --- p.108 / Offline political participation: After the Internet, before democracy --- p.110 / Limitation and Suggestions for Future Research --- p.114 / Reference --- p.117 / Glossary --- p.135

A Research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by course work and Research Report in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg March 2016 / The Nkandlagate scandal, in which the South African President, Jacob Zuma allegedly spent an estimated R246 million of taxpayers’ money on the renovation of his Nkandla residence, created huge public outcry. This reached yet another height in 2015 when Zuma’s administration declared that the President was not going to pay back the money as demanded by the South African publics. The publics of South Africa used social media platforms to express themselves over the decision. Studies have shown that social media platforms provide an opportunity for political mobilisation of publics and their participation in democracy. Using critical discourse analysis, this study seeks to investigate how South African publics engaged in the social media platform, particularly Facebook, over Nkandlagate. The research focuses on the discussions by two political parties’ Facebook pages: an opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The analysis involves posts and comments made by South African publics on each of the Facebook pages to establish how South Africans made use of Facebook to express themselves over Nkandlagate, how the two parties covered Nkandlagate and what kind of discourse emerged from the parties’ posts. The concepts used in this research include the networked public sphere, democracy, watchdog and collective will/opinion. Three dimensions of critical discourse analysis were used for data analysis in this study: description (text genres), interpretation (discursive type) and explanation (social practice.) The insights of South African publics social practices were recognised. This research argues that to a large extent, social media has provided South African publics with access to Facebook a public sphere through which democracy – particularly in terms of freedom of speech – is exercised. However, there is a lack of democratic interaction in that although there was interactive engagement amongst publics, there was a lack of interactive engagement between politicians and publics. / MT2017

M.A. / The use of the Internet and New Media is becoming increasingly relevant for 21st century politics, not only as a means of political campaigning but also as a platform used by the public to engage in political discussion, debate and opinion formation. As the field of study is relatively new, there has been much argument regarding the opportunities that New Media, such as the Social Media network Facebook, holds for political use. However, not enough research has been done to scrutinise the outcomes of truly utilising the platform. Furthermore, not enough research concerning the use of Social Media in the South African political sphere has been done. Thus, this study concentrates on how the public and the political parties are using Facebook. The research questions examine the nature of (a) political party (ANC and DA) and (b) public participation on the respective Facebook sites. It also enquires as to what benefits and challenges Social Media such as Facebook offer to political parties in South Africa. The study relies on a qualitative methodological orientation. Firstly, content analysis by means of thematic analysis was applied to all posts present on the Facebook pages of the ANC and the DA during the timeframe of 14-21 June 2010. The overall themes were World Cup 2010 and Youth Day, and their emergent sub-themes were explored in this context. Secondly, in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from each political party who dealt with the Social Media output and monitoring of the party. It would appear that political parties are not capitalising on the full range of Social Media offerings and not promoting two-way communication. Instead they are merely using it as a monitoring tool or as a way to disseminate information. However, the research shows that the members of the public are utilising the Facebook site(s) to engage in discussion of a political nature as well as using the platform to connect with and reach individuals in new ways.

The concept of social media has grown rapidly in the last years. This can be attributed to the rate of adoption and the penetration of social media around the world. Currently, there is an estimate of over two billion people that are actively using social media. The increased usage of social media has changed the way people interact and communicate. Literature suggests that Internet-enabled social networks (relationship between or among individuals and groups) are developing faster than offline relationships. Previous studies have linked social media to the social network theories that define social relationships based on the actors, the ties that exist and the flow of resources among them. This is made possible by social networking sites and other Internet enabled services that allow friends to meet, connect and interact. Social media allow for individuals, groups or organisations to build their social network of friends and followers. It also facilitates the formation of communities with common interest. Social media facilitate the creation and exchange of content such as text messages, images, audio and video formats among individuals or communities that share a common interest or belong to the same social network. Social capital theorists suggest that the ties that exist in social interaction like on social media have the ability to create benefit for the actors in the networks. This provides the foundation to study the benefits that individuals and organisations can obtain from social media. The opportunity to target and communicate directly with the target market and potential customer qualifies social media as a valuable marketing tool and an important component of the integrated marketing communication. As a marketing communication tool, social media introduces a completely new paradigm into marketing communications. Therefore marketing professionals and academics are continuously seeking how to take advantage of social media for different industries. In the field of politics, the use of marketing concepts to engage voters and drive collective participation in political processes has become critical due to stiff competition. The use of social media for political campaigning and engagement could be beneficial, but politicians and political organisations are not taking full advantage of the concept. Previous studies show that organisations are aware of the opportunities that social media could provide for their organisations. However, they are reluctant because they are faced with the problems of lack of information on how to implement social media for business purposes. This treatise investigates the approach and critical success factors for the use of social media for political campaigning and engagement. To evaluate the conceptual framework that was suggested by this study based on the literature review and case studies, an empirical study was conducted among the members of the Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape. A survey was conducted among the members of the Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape using a questionnaire and 92 responses were received. The questionnaire measured the respondents’ social media usage, level of political engagement, perception on the use of social media for political engagement and the level of political activities on social media. Also, hypotheses were tested to examine the assumption that there might be an association between the respondents’ gender, population group and level of political activities on social media. The findings of this study indicate that a structured approach, a strong emphasis of engaging followers socially and micro-targeting are critical to effective implementation of social media for political campaigning and engagement. Other factors include the direct involvement of leadership, listening and encouragement of user generated contents. This study concludes that political organisations can use social media to establish multi-levelled social networks that provide access to their target audience and also reach potential audience through their friends. This social connectedness can then be translated into political social capital for campaign and engagement purposes.

Social media use is a pivotal driver for political engagement. The present study extended previous research by exploring the simple and serial mediating roles of narcissism, perceived anonymity, descriptive norms, and subjective norms in this relationship. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping estimation was conducted for hypothesis testing using data from 579 Hong Kong university students. Modeling results revealed that perceived anonymity, descriptive norms, and subjective norms are significant mediators of the relationship between social media use and political participation. Moreover, descriptive norms, together with perceived anonymity, were found to mediate the relationship. Likewise, narcissism combined with descriptive norms proved to be significant mediators of the relationship. Additionally, a distal mediation effect of descriptive norms and subjective norms proved to be significant. Based on these results, a subsequent parallel mediation analysis was conducted, revealing that perceived anonymity is the most influential indicator among perceived anonymity, subjective norms, and descriptive norms of the relationship of social media use and political participation. The study concluded by comparing male and female respondents in terms of political participation. The result showed that male respondents were generally more active than female respondents in both online and offline political activities, which agrees with prior research findings. Collectively, the current study provides a new perspective from which we can further understand the effects of social media use on political engagement.

Recognizing the importance of civic engagement to the health of local communities and the overall success of a democracy, this research sought to better understand the relationship between online media use and civic engagement. Specifically, the constructive potential of the social networking site Facebook was explored using the theoretical framework of communication infrastructure theory (CIT; Ball-Rokeach, Kim, & Matei, 2001). Results of a cross-sectional survey with a national sample of 375 participants indicated that Facebook does hold potential for civic engagement. The two most important findings of the research were that Facebook facilitated connection to neighborhood storytelling and that connection to storytelling was positively associated with civic engagement. As such, results indicated that Facebook holds potential for civic engagement insofar as the site facilitates connection to neighborhood storytelling. Additionally, Facebook was a regular part of participants’ daily routines, a means to maintain social capital, and a forum for occasional civic participation. Cumulatively, these results highlight a number of strengths that citizens and communities can build upon to improve social capital and increase civic engagement.

Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / In the 17th and 18th centuries the bourgeois public sphere emerged as the conceptual space between the public, with its enclosed institutions and organisations, and the circle of the private life. It is within this more or less autonomous space that public discourse took place and public opinion, as a function of public discourse, was produced. The public sphere was realised as a necessary precondition of deliberative democracy where it needed to manifest commitments to freedom and equality in the communicative interaction between those partaking in the deliberative process. Since the 17th and 18th centuries, the public sphere has undergone various transformations and, even though it is largely argued that the utopian public sphere as conceptualised by Habermas does not yet exists, it is regarded as a necessary precondition that all democracies should strive towards. Since the 19th century, media has been one of the main intermediary institutions of the public sphere. Initially, the earlier mass media of press and broadcasting were regarded as adequate and beneficial for the conduct of democratic politics and the facilitation of public opinion in the public sphere. Information flow was, however, vertical and the heightened commercialisation experienced within the media market lead to the neglect of democratic communication roles between the public itself and the leaders, institutions and organisations. These forms of mass communication thus limited access and discouraged active political participation and deliberative dialogue within the public sphere. In the 20th and 21st centuries, new media, especially the internet, have been hailed as a potential way to break away from the vertical information flow and to create new arenas for public discourse. One emerging contending form of new media is social networking sites (SNSs). Even though SNSs were not initially developed for political reasons, they have been utilised by political figures in an attempt to broaden voter reach and to enhance their campaigns. Amongst the SNSs available on the internet, Facebook has emerged as the largest, fastest growing and most popular SNS amongst internet users between the ages of 18 and 24 in the world. In the past, this age demographic has shown a disinterest in politics and has thus been recognised as the previously politically disengaged age demographic. American president Barack Obama realised the potential of Facebook and incorporated it in his new ii media campaign during the presidential election of 2008. Facebook enabled Obama to expand his voter reach and communicate with the previously politically unengaged age demographic. It also enabled him to create an arena where political information regarding the candidate, campaign and relevant political issues can be provided. This opened a communication flow between Facebook members and the president. Arenas for public discourse were also established and the potential of Facebook to facilitate public opinion was realised. In this study, the question is asked whether Facebook, as a SNS, can be seen as an adequate forum where public discourse takes place and public opinion, as the function of public discourse, is facilitated. This study will therefore aim to explore whether a Facebook, as SNS, can be seen as a public sphere. With the help of a case study of the 2008 Obama campaign, Facebook has shown the potential to allow for public discourse to take place. Thus the notion of Facebook as facilitator of public opinion is supported by this study. / Die burgerlike openbare sfeer, as die konseptuele area tussen die publiek, met sy ingeslote instellings en organisasies, en die private lewe, het sy ontstaan vanuit die 17de en 18de eeu. Dit is binne hierdie min of meer outonome area waar openbare diskoers plaasvind en waar openbare mening, as ʼn funksie van die openbare diskoers, geproduseer word. Die openbare sfeer is ʼn noodwendige voorvereiste van ʼn beraadslagende demokrasie waar dit nodig is om verbintenisse tot vryheid en gelykheid in die kommunikasie interaksie tussen die wat aan die beraadslagingsproses deelneem, te manifesteer. Die openbare sfeer het verkeie omvormings ondergaan en, al word daar geargumenteer dat die utopiese openbare sfeer soos deur Habermas gekonseptualiseer nog nie bereik is nie, word dit as ʼn noodsaaklike vereiste waarna enige demokrasie moet streef, gesien. Sedert die 19de eeu word media as een van die hoof intermediêre instellings van die openbare sfeer beskou. Die drukpers en uitsaaipers was aanvanklik voldoende en voordelig vir die bedryf van demokratiese politiek en die fasilitering van openbare mening in die openbare sfeer. Die vloei van inligting was egter vertikaal en die verhoogde kommersialisering van die mediamarkte het tot die afskeep van demokratiese kommunikasierolle tussen die publiek self en die leiers, instellings en organisasies gelei. Hierdie vorms van massakommunikasie het dus toegang tot, en die aktiewe deelname in die politieke en beraadslagende dialoog binne die openbare sfeer beperk en ontmoedig. Gedurende die 20ste en 21ste eeue is nuwe media, veral die internet, as ʼn potensiële manier om van die eenrigting kommunikasievloei weg te breek en nuwe arenas vir openbare diskoers te skep, erken. Sosiale Netwerkingswebtuistes (SNWs) is een van die opkomende kompeterende vorms van nuwe media. Selfs al was SNWs aanvanklik nie vir politieke doeleindes ontwikkel nie, was dit wel deur die politieke figure, in ʼn poging om kiesersomvang te verbreed en om hul veldtogte uit te brei, gebruik. Onder die SNWs wat op die internet beskikbaar is, het Facebook as die grootste, vinnigste groeiende en gewildste onder die internetgebruikers tussen die ouderdom van 18 en 24 jaar in die wêreld ontstaan. In die verelede het hierdie jaargroep belangeloos teenoor politiek opgetree en was hulle sodoende as die voorheen polities onbetrokke jaargroep erken. Die Amerikaanse president, Barack Obama, het die iv potensiaal van Facebook besef en dit in sy nuwe-media veldtog gedurende die 2008 verkiesing ingesluit. Facebook het Obama in staat gestel om se kiesersomvang te verbreed en om veral met die voorheen polities onbetrokke jaargroep te kommunikeer. Dit het hom ook in staat gestel om ʼn arena te skep waar politieke inligting oor die kandidaat, veldtog en ter saaklike inligting aan Facebook-lede beskikbaar gestel is. Dit het ʼn vloei van kommunikasie tussen Facebook-lede en die president geskep. Arenas waar openbare diskoers kon plaasvind, is ook skep en die potensiaal van Facebook om openbare mening te fasiliteer, is besef. In hierdie studie word die vraag gestel of Facebook, as ‘n SNW, as ‘n genoegsame forum waar openbare diskoers plaasvind en openbare mening as ‘n funksie van openbare diskoers gefasiliteer word, dien. Hierdie studie poog derhalwe om ondersoek in te stel of Facebook, as SNW, as ‘n openbare sfeer erken kan word. Met behulp van die gevallestudie aangaande die 2008 Obama veldtog, blyk dit dat Facebook die potensiaal het om openbare diskoers te fasiliteer. Die idee dat Facebook ʼn fasiliteerder van openbare mening is, word derhalwe deur hierdie studie ondersteun.

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