Civic political engagement and social change in the new digital age

International audienceOver recent decades, research on the internet and political participation has substantially developed, from speculative studies on possible impacts in social and economic life to detailed analyses of organizational usage. In the field of politics focus is increasingly shifting from understanding organizational, or supply side, to the usage and dimension of citizen engagement. Citizens have various ways to engage in civic political life, with many new forms of engagement facilitated by digital technologies. The question is to what extent these forms of engagement have any impact on society and the way society is governed. More particularly, what forms of engagement have impact, what type of impact is evidenced, is that impact positive or negative, in what ways and for whom

Civil Society and Civic Engagement in a Time of Change

This article draws on contributions to the IDS 50th Anniversary Conference stream dedicated to citizen voice, agency and accountability to explore the shifting relationship between civil society, the state and the private sector, as well as looking at the nature of civic engagement. The role of digital technologies in civic engagement in the context of a turbulent new political landscape is also examined in order to understand the spaces that might be opened and closed by these technologies

SOSIALISASI POLITIK MELALUI MEDIA SOSIAL (STUDI KASUS: AKUN INSTAGRAM PUSPENPOL)

Hana Rahmah Gunawan, Sosialisasi Politik Melalui Media Sosial (Studi Kasus: Akun Instagram Puspenpol) Skripsi. Jakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Sosiologi, Fakultas Ilmu Sosial, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, 2023. Penelitian ini secara garis besar memiliki tujuan untuk mendeskripsikan sosialisasi politik yang dilakukan Pusat Penerangan Politik (Puspenpol) melalui media sosial Instagram. Penelitian ini menunjukan bagaimana model sosialisasi politik Puspenpol yang dapat mendorong partisipasi politik masyarakat khususnya kalangan muda. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode studi kasus. Data penelitian diperoleh melalui observasi, wawancara mendalam, studi pustaka pada dokumentasi terkait dan dokumentasi. Subjek penelitian ini adalah sebanyak 9 informan yaitu 2 anggota Puspenpol, 6 orang pengikut akun Puspenpol serta 1 praktisi media untuk triangulasi data. Lokasi penelitian ini dilakukan melalui Akun Instagram Puspenpol. Sebelum melakukan penelitian, peneliti mengamati akun Intagram Puspenpol terhitung mulai dari bulan Mei 2022. Kemudian peneliti mulai melakukan wawancara dari bulan Februari hingga bulan Mei 2023 Hasil dari penelitian ini menjelaskan bahwa sosialisasi politik yang dilakukan Puspenpol dapat mendorong adanya partisipasi politik. Penelitian ini dianalisis menggunakan Process Model. Terdapat empat variabel dalam Process Model yaitu Variabel Sosio Struktural, Komunikasi, Attitudes dan Cognitive serta Partisipasi Politik. Pada Variabel Sosio Struktural ditemukan hasil bahwa rata-rata followers merupakan usia 18-35 tahun dan sedang aktif menggunakan media sosial. Komunikasi yang Puspenpol bersifat interaktif dengan menghadirkan konten dengan bahasa universal dan disesuaikan dengan kalangan muda. Puspenpol juga membuka kolom komentar agar masyarakat daat menyampaikan pandangannya. Variabel nilai (attitude) yang disosialisasikan Puspenpol antara lain adalah meningkatkan rasa toleransi, empati, peka dan kritis terhadap lingkungan sekitar. Sedangkan pengetahuan (cognitive) antara lain adalah pengetahuan mengenai ideologi, isu politik di dalam dan luar negeri, isu politik sehari-hari dan elektoral. Dari penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa ada partisipasi politik yang timbul khususnya partisipasi institusional yaitu obrolan politik dan penyebarluasan konten kembali oleh followers. Kata Kunci: Sosialisasi Politik, Media Sosial, Partisipasi Politik *********** Hana Rahmah Gunawan, Social Media as an Agent of Social Political Dissemination (Case Study: Puspenpol Instagram Account) Thesis. Jakarta: Sociology Education Study Program, Faculty of Social Sciences, Jakarta State University, 2023. This research broadly aims to describe the political socialization carried out by the Center for Political Information (Puspenpol) through Instagram social media. This study shows how the Puspenpol political socialization model can encourage people's political participation, especially among young people. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method. The research data was obtained through observation, in-depth interviews, literature study on related documentation and documentation. The subjects of this research were 9 informants, 2 members of Puspenpol, 6 followers of Puspenpol accounts and 1 media practitioner for data triangulation. The location of this research was carried out through the Puspenpol Instagram account. Before conducting the research, the researcher observed the Puspenpol Instagram account started from May 2022. Then the researcher began conducting interviews from February to May 2023 The results of this research explain that political socialization carried out by Puspenpol can encourage political participation. This research was analyzed using Process Model. There are four variables in the Process Model, namely Socio-Structural Variables, Communication, Attitudes and Cognitive and Political Participation. In the Socio Structural Variables it was found that the average followers are aged 18-35 years and are actively using social media. Puspenpol's communication is interactive by presenting content in a universal language and adapted to young people. Puspenpol also open a comment column so that the public can express their views. The attitudes variables socialized by Puspenpol include increasing a sense of tolerance, empathy, sensitivity and criticality towards the surrounding environment. While cognitive includes knowledge about ideology, political issues at home and abroad, daily and electoral political issues. From this study it was found that there was political participation that arose, especially institutional participation, namely political chat and content dissemination by followers. Keywords: Political Socialization, Social Media, Political Participatio

Local Newspapers, Facebook and Local Civic Engagement : A Study of Media Use in Two Norwegian Communities

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Engagement de los ministerios de sanidad español, inglés y alemán en TikTok

During the pandemic caused by Covid-19, government-dependent institutions had to take on numerouschallenges, including communication efforts to inform citizens about the situation. One of the main communication channels was social networks and, among them, the emerging social network TikTok. This study addresses the analysis of the engagement of three European ministries of health, that of Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany, on the social network TikTok. The objective of the study is to conclude which are the communication strategies of each profile and which content achieved greater engagement with users. These countries are the only ones that have a profile on the social network, and they were created during the pandemic caused by Covid-19, so the work of the ministries and the content created on TikTok was influenced by the health situation. In this study, the methodology used was content analysis, studying each of the profiles of the health ministries and each of the published videos. Each country took on the challenge differently, Germany was the profile that created the most content and the one that achieved the highest levels of engagement; The United Kingdom only published eight videos, but it achieved very high engagement figures and Spain, unlike its European peers, achieved more humble engagement levels.Durante la pandemia provocada por el Covid-19, las instituciones dependientes de los gobiernos tuvieronque asumir numerosos retos, entre ellos los esfuerzos de comunicación para informar a la ciudadaníasobre la situación. Uno de los principales canales de comunicación fueron las redes sociales, incluida laemergente red social TikTok. Este estudio analiza el engagement de tres ministerios de sanidad europeos,el de España, Reino Unido y Alemania, en la red social TikTok. El objetivo del estudio es concluir cuálesson las estrategias de comunicación de cada perfil y qué contenidos lograron un mayor engagementcon los usuarios. Estos países son los únicos que tienen perfil en la red social y fueron creados durantela pandemia provocada por la Covid-19, por lo que la labor de los ministerios y el contenido creado enTikTok se vio influenciado por la situación sanitaria. En este estudio se utilizó la metodología de análisisde contenidos, estudiando cada uno de los perfiles de los ministerios de sanidad y también cada uno delos vídeos publicados. Cada país asumió el reto de manera diferente, Alemania fue el perfil que creó máscontenido y logró los niveles, más altos de engagement; Reino Unido solo publicó ocho vídeos, peroconsiguió unas cifras de engagement muy elevados y España, a diferencia de sus compañeros europeoslogró unos niveles de engagement más humildes

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Social Media: Understanding the Relationship Between Facebook, Twitter, and Political Understanding

Social media is ubiquitous and holds a significant place in modern society. Social media feeds are inundated with political content and are used by politicians and citizens alike to post political commentary. Neither mass media nor politics are new areas of study in sociology, but the entanglement of the two is proving to be of interest, as some scholarship argues that social media is driving changes in how politics works in the United States. We must consider how the citizenry consumes and processes political information in the modern era in view of the interplay between social media and current events. This study examines how membership and/or regular use of Facebook, and membership and/or regular use of Twitter affects perceived political understanding. I propose that, respectively, Facebook and Twitter use will increase perception of political understanding. Analysis of data from the 2016 General Social Survey reveals that Twitter membership and/or regular use is correlated with political understanding; meaning that those who use Twitter are more likely to believe they have an understanding of the political issues facing our country. The data confirms that the relationship between social media and political understanding must be taken seriously, and warrants deeper exploration. There is a need for future research that explores the kinds of content individuals consume on social media and the time they spend on these sites in order to develop a more robust understanding of exactly how social media use affects political understanding

Engagement in public relations discipline: Themes, theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches

Several practitioners and experts in the field of public relations have emphasized the importance of public engagement in the context of new technological and social developments and the impact this has on reshaping and reconceptualising public relations. While the practice is embracing new trends, the questions of understanding, explaining and managing engagement of different publics appear to be largely unexplored in public relations discipline. The purpose of this study is to examine the state of public engagement studies in public relations scholarship in terms of themes, contexts, theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. The study conducted content analysis of 59 journal articles on public engagement published in the last decade in Journal of Communication Management, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Inquiry and Public Relations Review. The results indicate that scarce studies on public engagement tend to be mostly concerned with social media and online engagement, studied from management/functional and relational perspectives, focussed on organizations, anchored in western traditions and dominated by quantitative methodology. This indicates that public engagement tends to be conceptualized as a phenomenon that organizations need to “manage” to advance their interests rather than to understand in terms of dynamics, connectedness, participation, dialogue, and interactions with publics. It is strongly influenced by post-positivism with some encouraging evidence of paradigmatic turn towards socio-cultural and critical approaches

The structure of political e-expression: What the Brexit campaign can teach us about political talk on Facebook

Social media represents a space where the more politically engaged can commune around issues and events of importance and exchange views. Often the spaces created, especially when hosted by a partisan or campaign organization, tend to be ideologically homogenous eschewing debate or critique. The UK’s referendum on EU membership represents an opportunity to explore how citizens use social media, in this case Facebook, to express their political views in relation to a controversial and polarizing issue of significant national importance. The data extracted from the public pages of the four most important Leave and Remain campaigns are used to explore the strategies of Leave and Remain campaigns as well as the reactions of subscribers. The data show the Leave campaign the most proactive posters, creating more engaging content and, in turn, gaining an advantage in terms of visibility online. Leave supporters were also more prone to act as cheerleaders for the campaign applauding attacks on Remain leaders and spokespeople and promoting campaign slogans. Remain subscribers similarly endorsed negative messages but were keener to debate the detail behind slogans and critique the official campaign strategy and messaging. Endogenous factors relating to the demographic of the supporter groups and the campaign messages, as well as exogenous factors relating to the social norms of behaviour with the pages, are discussed as explanatory factors for the different dynamics observed. Notwithstanding the limitations of big data discourse analysis, we thus suggest the Facebook communities around each campaign page can be seen as microcosms of wider supporter groups and thus we propose that analysis of discourse within social media platforms such as Facebook allow better understanding of wider societal engagement with political communication and the dynamics of contestation that exist around political issues and events

Engagement de los ministerios de sanidad español, inglés y alemán en TikTok

Durante la pandemia provocada por la Covid-19, las instituciones dependientes de los gobiernos tuvieron que asumir numerosos retos, entre ellos los esfuerzos de comunicación para informar a la ciudadanía sobre la situación. Uno de los principales canales de comunicación fueron las redes sociales, incluida la emergente red social TikTok. Este estudio analiza el engagement de tres ministerios de sanidad europeos, el de España, Reino Unido y Alemania, en la red social TikTok. El objetivo del estudio es concluir cuáles son las estrategias de comunicación de cada perfil y qué contenidos lograron un mayor engagement con los usuarios. Estos países son los únicos que tienen perfil en la red social y fueron creados durante la pandemia provocada por la Covid-19, por lo que la labor de los ministerios y el contenido creado en TikTok se vio influenciado por la situación sanitaria. En este estudio se utilizó la metodología de análisis de contenidos, estudiando cada uno de los perfiles de los ministerios de sanidad y también cada uno de los vídeos publicados. Cada país asumió el reto de manera diferente, Alemania fue el perfil que creó más contenido y logró los niveles, más altos de engagement; Reino Unido solo publicó ocho vídeos, pero consiguió unas cifras de engagement muy elevados y España, a diferencia de sus compañeros europeos logró unos niveles de engagement más humildes.//During the pandemic caused by Covid-19, government-dependent institutions had to take on numerous challenges, including communication efforts to inform citizens about the situation. One of the main communication channels was social networks and, among them, the emerging social network TikTok. This study addresses the analysis of the engagement of three European ministries of health, that of Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany, on the social network TikTok. The objective of the study is to conclude which are the communication strategies of each profile and which content achieved greater engagement with users. These countries are the only ones that have a profile on the social network, and they were created during the pandemic caused by Covid-19, so the work of the ministries and the content created on TikTok was influenced by the health situation. In this study, the methodology used was content analysis, studying each of the profiles of the health ministries and each of the published videos. Each country took on the challenge differently, Germany was the profile that created the most content and the one that achieved the highest levels of engagement; The United Kingdom only published eight videos, but it achieved very high engagement figures and Spain, unlike its European peers, achieved more humble engagement levels

The Role of Social Media in Shaping Solidarity and Compassion Fade: How the Death of a Child Turned Apathy into Action but Distress Took it Away

An image of drowned Syrian toddler, Aylan Kurdi, was popularly shared through social media and this promoted a surge of solidarity with Syrian refugees in September 2015. However, this response was not sustained. We explore the role of social media engagement in the emergence of solidarity and its decline (compassion fade). We collected data when sympathy for refugees was peaking (September 2015), and 1 year later. Latent change score modeling (N = 237) showed that engagement with the image through social media allowed people to form a pro-refugee group consciousness that acted as the proximal predictor of solidarity. However, reductions in the same factors explain the reduced commitment 1 year later. Distress predicted the reductions in social media engagement. The results support the power of social media to ignite world-changing action, but caution that online engagement may dissipate in the face of ongoing challenges