ABSTRACT

This book critically investigates the complex interaction between social media and contemporary democratic politics, and provides a grounded analysis of the emerging importance of Social media in civic engagement.

Social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, have increasingly been adopted by politicians, political activists and social movements as a means to engage, organize and communicate with citizens worldwide. Drawing on Obama’s Presidential campaign, opposition and protests in the Arab states, and the mobilization of support for campaigns against tuition fee increases and the UK Uncut demonstrations, this book presents evidence-based research and analysis. Renowned international scholars examine the salience of the network as a metaphor for understanding our social world, but also the centrality of the Internet in civic and political networks. Whilst acknowledging the power of social media, the contributors question the claim it is a utopian tool of democracy, and suggests a cautious approach to facilitate more participative democracy is necessary.

Providing the most up-to-date analysis of social media, citizenship and democracy, Social Media and Democracy will be of strong interest to students and scholars of Political Science, Social Policy, Sociology, Communication Studies, Computing and Information and Communications Technologies.

chapter |10 pages

Networking Democracy?

Social Media Innovations in Participatory Politics

part |43 pages

Social Movements

chapter |26 pages

Digital Media and the Personalization of Collective Action

Social Technology and the Organization of Protests Against the Global Economic Crisis

chapter |15 pages

Communication in Movement

Social Movements as Agents of Participatory Democracy1

part |73 pages

Participation Dynamics

chapter |20 pages

Poverty in the News

A Framing Analysis of Coverage in Canada and the United Kingdom

chapter |14 pages

The News Media as Networked Political Actors

How Italian Media are Reclaiming Political Ground by Harnessing Online Participation

chapter |18 pages

Trust, Confidence, Credibility

Citizen Responses on Twitter to Opinion Polls during the 2010 UK General Election

chapter |19 pages

What the Hashtag?

A Content Analysis of Canadian Politics on Twitter

part |112 pages

Digital Political Participation in Stasis or Flux?

chapter |16 pages

Reaching Citizens Online

How Youth Organizations are Evolving Their Web Presence

chapter |24 pages

Online Youth Civic Attitudes and the Limits of Civic Consumerism

The Emerging Challenge to the Internet's Democratic Potential

chapter |17 pages

Constructing Australian Youth Online

Empowered but Dutiful Citizens?

chapter |17 pages

Online Participation

New Forms of Civic and Political Engagement or Just New Opportunities for Networked Individualism