Why We Should Keep Studying Good (and Everyday) Participation: An Analogy to Political Participation

Research on participation is currently characterized by a trend towards studying its “darker” sides. In this commentary, I make an argument for why we should keep studying good participation. In addition, I claim that the flipside of studying exceptional case studies of participation shouldn’t be only focusing on dark participation, but on everyday, mundane forms of participation, that may happen in surprising contexts (such as non-proprietary platforms) and may take different shapes. To make these claims, I introduce a case study of “good participation” in news production processes, and explain why it may merit this distinction. I then use a three-pronged analogy to the cognate field of political participation to show what it can tell us about good—and everyday—participation in the news

Youth Digital Participation: Now More than Ever

One of the far-reaching implications of the current global COVID-19 pandemic has been the sudden boost in use of digital media due to social distancing and stay-at-home orders. In times of routine, youth are often the first to adopt new technologies and platforms, to experiment with modes of production and practices of sharing, and often spend significant time and energy socializing online. Now such digital practices have become common among much wider demographics. Moreover, the move to online learning in schools and the spurt of innovative digital experiences offered has abruptly shifted the rhetoric of concern often associated with youth’s so-called "screen time." The articles in this thematic issue - though written long before the COVID-19 pandemic - address many of the questions that now are significantly brought to the forefront. What are the potentials and opportunities offered by youth digital participation for learning, for self-expression, for identity formation, and for social connection? How does digital participation shape civic and political life? And finally, especially when digital participation is so ever-present, what are barriers to youth participation online, and what are the challenges and risks it poses

Analyzing youth digital participation: aims, actors, contexts and intensities

Participation is often used as a blanket term that is uncritically celebrated; this is particularly true in the case of youth digital participation. In this article, we propose a youth-focused analytical framework, applicable to a wide variety of youth digital participation projects, which can help facilitate a more nuanced understanding of these participatory practices. This framework analyzes the aims envisioned for youth participation, the actors and contexts of these activities, and the variable levels of participatory intensity, in order to more accurately assess the forms and outcomes of youth digital participation. We demonstrate the value of this framework by applying it to two contemporary cases of digital youth participation: an informal online community (Nerdfighters) and a formalized educational initiative (CyberPatriot). Such analyses facilitate normative assessments of youth digital participation, which enable us to better assess what participation is good for, and for whom

Tweeting in the Time of Coronavirus: How Social Media Use and Academic Research Evolve during Times of Global Uncertainty

Our international research team was in the midst of a comparative study about the day-to-day experience of Twitter users in Berlin and Jerusalem through a series of daily short surveys, when our Jerusalem data were becoming increasingly "compromised" by the growing public concern, and tightening government measures, around the spread of the Coronavirus in Israel. During the two waves of our 10-day survey of salient Twitter users in Jerusalem (March 9-March 19,N = 34; March 23-April 2, N = 25), Israel shifted from 50 confirmed Coronavirus cases to over 6,800 and from relative routine to almost full stay-at-home orders. This essay presents two intersecting narratives. First, we consider the methodological challenges of adapting ongoing academic survey studies to changing conditions. We then offer a mixed-methods analysis of the experiences of our Twitter users and how they saw the Coronavirus crisis shaping their use of Twitter. The essay thus offers a unique methodological and empirical vantage point on how social media use-and academic research-evolve during times of global uncertainty

“IMAGINE WE’RE ALL IN THE LIVING ROOM TALKING ABOUT POLITICS”: ISRAELI WHATSAPP GROUPS DEVOTED TO INFORMAL POLITICAL TALK

Theorists point to informal political talk as a way for citizens to deepen their understanding of why the political world matters to them, form opinions, and set the ground for collective action (Barber, 1984). In particular, scholars stress the benefits of cross-cutting conversation, involving exchange of dissimilar perspectives (Delli Carpini, Cook, & Jacobs, 2004). Yet cross-cutting political talk is infused with challenges, that differ based on geographical and cultural context (Mor, Kligler-Vilenchik & Maoz, 2015). Recent technological advances offer innovative contexts for political talk, that shape the nature of conversation possible. One such context is WhatsApp—a highly popular mobile instant messaging application. This project investigates two WhatsApp groups specifically dedicated to informal political talk among a heterogeneous group of Israeli citizens. Through a combination of qualitative content analysis, participant interviews, and participant-observation, this study identifies mediated mechanisms of conflict management and resolution used in the group. The study discusses three such mechanisms: agreeing on what we can agree on, brute force / persistence, and governing the boundaries of acceptable speech. Through identifying these mechanisms, this research seeks to open up the “black box” of political disagreement (usually studied through self-report), while pinpointing the characteristics and potential of the WhatsApp medium as a new and understudied site for heterogeneous political talk

TikTok as a Key Platform for Youth Political Expression: Reflecting on the Opportunities and Stakes Involved

Reflecting on 6 years of our research—which began on musical.ly and transitioned into TikTok—we argue that TikTok is a vital space to study social movements due to its centrality in youth lives and its ability to give voice to youth political expression in richly creative ways. We see the political expression happening on TikTok as a harbinger of the changing nature of this phenomenon, and a necessary impetus to broaden our understandings of activism and political expression today. At the same time, we must also consider the implications of TikTok becoming such a valuable space for youth politics and activism, in terms of the kinds of expression it affords or constrains, and the power it gives the platform. In closing, we encourage scholars to maintain a balanced and constructive approach in researching the platform, and embrace the messiness and complexity inherent in this endeavor—which mirrors the messiness and complexity of the platform itself

Formative Events, Networked Spaces, And The Political Socialization Of Youth

Much academic and public attention is devoted to the question of youth engagement in public life. Over the past decade, concerns about a decrease in youth civic engagement have given way to an examination of new ways in which young people relate to the political realm, often in digitally mediated ways. Youth—as a period of time in life—is of particular consequence to political socialization, as the formative experiences of youth and engagement in politics during this time period shape future patterns of participation and engagement. This article examines how youth responded to the results of the 2016 US elections, as a potential formative political event, in a variety of online networked spaces. Our focus is on what their participation in these spaces reveals in terms of their relationships to traditional politics. We find that these platforms afford youth different modes of expression (including memes, games and artwork) and enable them to communicate openly about politics with peers. At the same time, the discourse on these sites may also exacerbate political cynicism, fear and a disconnection from the political process

CLIMATE ANXIETY AS A LENS INTO YOUNG PEOPLE'S POLITICAL EXPRESSION ON YOUTUBE

Climate anxiety—the feeling of dread and distress associated with worrying about the future of the planet—has been posited as a defining feature of Gen Z. This study examines youth communication around climate anxiety on YouTube, through a qualitative content analysis of 146 youth-created videos about climate anxiety, as well as the over 20,000 comments posted on them. Illustrating an emphasis on content rather than form, the videos in our corpus showed an in-depth engagement with the topic at hand, coupled with a simple, low-key aesthetic. The vast majority of videos assumed an imagined audience of young people who are concerned about the climate; thus, the goal was to provide information and advice rather than persuade about climate change. Our analysis illustrates the significance of insider conversations among youth, and the centrality of YouTube’s expressivity and connectivity affordances in allowing young people to engage with these topics on a personal and intimate level. At the same time, our research illuminates the mental toll of political expression for young people, and further highlights this connection between the affective and the political drive. On a theoretical level, our research offers and tests a broadly applicable model that explains how different social media platforms (in this case, YouTube) enable—as well as constrain—certain forms of political expression, through the interaction between their affordances, norms, and contents

“HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL QUEEN”: #JUSTICEFORBRE AND THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT ON INSTAGRAM

On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman from Louisville, Kentucky, was killed by police officers during a raid on her apartment. In this study, we analyze the complex intersections between race, gender, and the aesthetic norms dominant on Instagram, as they played out in the political expression around the killing of Breonna Taylor, as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. On a theoretical level, this research offers a model explaining how social media platforms (in this case, Instagram) can enable—as well as constrain—certain forms of political expression, through the interaction between their affordances, norms, and contents. An analysis of 5779 Instagram posts and 2173 related comments show how the conversation around #justiceforbre manifested in a collection of posts that was rather uniform, centered on reposting a limited set of posts that were visually appealing, highlighting Taylor’s femininity. A dominant norm in the corpus was connecting political expression around the killing of Breonna Taylor to the user’s own identity, so that the “right” way to speak around the issue varied based on one’s racial group. Through this analysis, this study points at how the interaction between affordances, norms and contents uniquely shaped the kind of political expression that was enabled on Instagram. While adopting the Instagram aesthetic made a powerful impact for the BLM movement, the analyzed contents also show the limits posed on activist action around race relations when it is confined to aesthetically pleasing forms of expression that focus on femininity and beauty