Category: Civic Participation

The Effects of Social Media on Civic and Political Participation  

14/06/2023 

Background

The 21st century has been fully submerged into the ‘digital age’ and, undeniably, social media plays a crucial role in the way people interact with this world. Thus, political scientists have begun to speculate whether the very institutions our Western world is based upon – institutions which have been ingrained in democracy and liberalism for centuries – need to be adapted to this new, digitalised environment. This research brief will analyse the effects social media has on ‘civic participation’ and ‘political ideology’, both positively and negatively, and the ways in which these challenging issues can be overcome. Specifically, concepts of ‘digital inclusion’ and ‘divide’, ‘fake news’, ‘digital’ and ‘political literacy’ and ‘slacktivism’ will be critically discussed throughout.

The Importance of ‘Political Involvement’ and ‘Awareness’

The importance of being politically active is clearly expressed in Arendt’s ‘On Revolution’ (1963) which places ‘natality’ and ‘pluralism’ at the heart of politics. Arendt stresses the necessity for a ‘Constitutio libertatis’ – a political space of public freedom (Arendt, 1963, p.141) – with ‘freedom’ being “not merely liberation from … oppressive rule”, but instead the “experience of being politically active” (Deane, 1963, p.620). Political involvement is crucial for the prevention of abuses of power, including its manifestations in genocides and tyranny. Hence, ‘political literacy’ is an essential awareness of historical events that will benefit and help one make educated and well-informed decisions in the present. For instance, an awareness of how democracies can fall into a dictatorship that emits extremist propaganda – such as in 20th century Nazi Germany – can help modern-day citizens avoid this escalation by protecting their right to freedom of speech. As the political scientists Lund and Carr remark: “to be engaged in democracy, there must be political literacy, the absence of which would make the prospect of meaningful social justice in society less likely” (2008, p.14).

The Positive Impact of Social Media on Civic Participation

Digitalisation and social media have been commended for revitalising civic participation and political activism, particularly amongst the youth. Interactive features on apps like ‘Instagram’ and ‘Twitter’ have enabled users to consume, share and produce content which has sparked a greater debate and awareness surrounding domestic and international issues. Studies have confirmed the ability of social media to increase “better-organised activism” and the “creation and consolidation of communities and collective identities” (Polizzi, 2020, p.4).

Social media studies engage notions of ‘democratic participation’, whereby an individual’s activity exemplifies a ‘psychological dimension’ (Schonfeld, 1975) in the sense that it expresses those values and topics that are of the utmost concern to them (Polizzi, 2020, p.3). An understanding of one’s media presence can thus enable further “subjectivity [and further awareness] about their practices” (Dahlgren, 2003), whilst determining their degree of civic participation (Polizzi, 2020, p.3). For instance, if an individual likes posts concerning the wellbeing of animals and conservation of the planet, one could infer they are concerned with issues of ‘climate change’ and environmentalism and may affiliate with the ‘Green Party’.

Furthermore, this ability to share your opinion about political issues online has sparked a new wave of ‘digital activism’, with studies addressing a rise in young people’s civic engagement due to the ways that social media makes it possible to share “critical reflections on socio-political matters” and by allowing greater public accessibility to knowledge (McGinnis, Goodstein-Stolzenberg, and Saliani, 2007). Dr James Dennis (2018) celebrates social media’s impact on encouraging young people’s education and communication of news: from the simple “shar[e] of a meme” or “reading a news story” online, social media has enabled a greater awareness of topical issues (University of Portsmouth). Thus, social media has enabled younger people to connect on very specific issues and, subsequently, increase their political activism and civic participation. Polizzi (2020, p.3) reiterates this, referring to studies by Dutton, Blank, and Groselj (2013), Theocharis (2015), van Laer, and van Aelst (2010), suggesting that social media has enabled people to become politically involved through signing petitions, and hearing about and participating in demonstrations.

This new form of activism has been a topic of scholarly criticism, with the pejorative noun “slacktivist” being used to refer to a person who engages with socio-political issues digitally, yet their actual impact on creating change or helping the cause is questionable. In ‘Beyond Slacktivism’ Dennis (2018) defends this form of activism, stating that social media in general and digital campaigns in particular allows individuals to join “on their terms”, and they hold “some kind of tangible influence over the decisions made” (University of Portsmouth). Such digital forms of political activism should not be criticised for not being ‘far enough’. Arguably, signing a petition is a small step of civic participation that can be deemed easy and better compared to doing nothing at all.

The Negative Impact of Social Media on Civic Participation
Despite social media enabling a stronger awareness of socio-political issues, the credibility and reliability of this information is disputable. Corporations like ‘Facebook’ enjoy the most online traffic (Freedman, 2012) and can hold the danger of reinforcing extreme ideologies due to the ways that algorithms amplify and feed users with content that tends to emote strong reactions (Vaidhyanathan, 2018). Given that online content is “fragmented and polarised”, the ‘fake news’ phenomenon has increased issues of misrepresentation in the way that unreliable information has been portrayed as fact (Polizzi, 2020, p.4). The algorithm that is arguably most dangerous is the customised ‘for-you-page’ (fyp) whereby the posts you like are then replicated and similar content is continued to be expressed on this individual's feed. This increases the likelihood of ‘closed-minded’ and ‘uneducated’ behaviour and holds the danger of spreading extremist views. As anyone can make social media posts and their bias may not be questioned, the spread of fake news has become a forefront issue of the present day. For instance, if an individual likes a post supporting President Trump, their fyp would instantly portray content that expresses a similar political affiliation. Thus, due to the regurgitation and reinforcement of this singular view, this individual’s awareness of other perspectives would be limited. The ease by which someone is able to project their views online has led to some feeling ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘cautious’ over what to believe. Subsequently, people have often disassociated from socio-political issues because of this, as the quantity of information to process is deemed ‘too much’. Hence, social media may lead to ‘political apathy’, instead of the intended further involvement in the political sphere.

Ways In Which to Overcome the Negative Side-Effects of Social Media
Political scientists have highlighted the importance of ‘digital literacy’ for navigating social media in a positive and educated manner. Fry (2014) suggests that social media platforms are in danger of reproducing biased information and propaganda, and that digital literacy is crucial in order to effectively contribute to socio-political debates. ‘Functional digital literacy’ refers to “practical skills” and an “understanding necessary for engaging online” (Polizzi, 2020, p.2). Likewise, ‘critical digital literacy’ is when an individual can objectively make a decision regarding the reliability of a source and, thus, determine its usefulness (Bacalja, Aguilera, and Castrillón-Ángel, 2021). In the UK, for instance, The Guardian is typically regarded as a more accurate source of information, due to its “minimal sensationalism” and “consistently neutral tone” (Barak, 2022). The Sun, by contrast, is deemed to publish more “sensationalised, misleading stories with a right-wing bias” with a ‘Reuters institute survey’ finding that 13% of respondents trust their news coverage, whilst 64% do not (Media Bias Fact Check, 2022). Polizzi (2020, p.3) states that critical digital literacy “in synergy with knowledge about the broader digital environment” can, in practice, be beneficial to democracy and its different normative models. It has the potential to contribute to “the civic and political engagement of informed, critically autonomous and active citizens in ways that are mediated by the internet” (Polizzi, 2020, p.3). Thus, despite the polarising effects of digitalisation on politics in the modern day, digital literacy has the ability to allow an individual to efficiently differentiate accurate information from extremist or biased propaganda (Mihailidis and Viotty, 2017). Media studies have shown that an “awareness of the internet’s potentials and limitations can facilitate a pragmatic approach to using it for political purposes” (Polizzi, 2020, p.8). Further studies have also shown that an appreciation of knowledge about news production and bias in the news corresponds to higher levels of civic engagement online and offline (Hobbs et al., 2013). Furthermore, the ability to evaluate the trustworthiness of websites is associated with a rise in online political engagement and the “online exposure to diverse perspectives” (Kahne, Lee and, Feezell, 2012, p.19).

A fundamental issue that has been a topic of modern scholarly debate is how social media exacerbates the ‘digital divide’. Digitalisation carries the risk of isolating groups who cannot access or navigate the internet and, thus, their voices in the public sphere of civic and political participation go unheard. Subsequently, there is a danger that meaningful participation may only be achieved by a small group of individuals. However, recently, government and local initiatives are being put in place to limit this negative impact (see our previous research brief). A parliamentary committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies stated that “people of all ages need to be taught critical digital media literacy skills suitable for a digital age”. “Chapter 7: Active digital citizens” of the report urged social media platforms to “ensure their products are accessible and understandable to the public” (Parliamentary Business, 2018).

In order to manage the feeling of being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material surrounding the political sphere, calls have been made for “greater transparency” so as to allow for a “greater democracy”. Ross (2016) argues that ‘open data’ can increase voter participation by allowing “more people [to] understand their political system, both on a local and national level”. Apps are increasingly manufactured to incentivise public political participation. For example, Ed Dowding developed the app ‘Represent Me’ with the intention “to get younger people involved in political decision-making”. In contrast to long, impersonal surveys, this app allows users “to discuss and share feelings” (Ross, 2016). Likewise, ‘Polititruth’ has been developed to increase an individual’s critical digital literacy in a game format whereby you swipe left and right depending on whether the news story is true or false. Furthermore, Facebook itself has tried to combat the problem of fake news, evident in a study focused on America and India’s digital skills shortages in regards to misinformation. The study discovered that Facebook’s ‘Tips to Spot False News’ – consisting of 10 strategies that users could adopt to identify false posts – was “surprisingly successful” and this “media literacy intervention reduce[d] people’s belief in false headlines” (Guess et al., 2020).

To conclude, it is undeniable that public political participation is essential to avoid the formation of tyrannical dictatorships or extremist governments; but, how do we achieve this in such a digitalised and technologised context? Social media risks spreading fake news and misleading propaganda. However, with critical digital literacy, individuals can determine the credibility of online sources and make more well-educated and accurate socio-political observations. Arguably, no matter how small the political act is, any contribution to political movements should be commended and not be belittled as ‘slacktivism’ and social media has been an influential tool to encourage this activism.

References

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