WhatsApp political discussion, conventional participation and activism: exploring direct, indirect and generational effects

Homero Gil de Zúñiga · Alberto Ardèvol‐Abreu · Andreu Casero-Ripollés

165 citations0/0 files storedInformation Communication & Society

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Social Media and Politics Media Studies and Communication Media Influence and Politics

Abstract

Ordinary citizens are increasingly using mobile instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp for politically-related activities. Compared to other ‘semi-public’ online platforms, WhatsApp provides a more intimate and controlled environment in which users can almost simultaneously gather and share news, discuss politics, and mobilize others. Relying on two-wave panel data collected in Spain, USA, and New Zealand, this study examines the mediating role of WhatsApp political discussion in the relationships between different types of news use and various forms of political participation. First, our findings reveal WhatsApp discussion has a positive influence on activism, and a more nuanced effect on conventional participation. Second, results are partially supportive of a fully mediated set of influences between news media and social media news uses and both types of participation via WhatsApp. Finally, the study examines age differential effects between younger (Gen Xers and Millennials) and older (Boomers) age groups.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 165 citations exist upstream.

References

1997Modernization and Postmodernization 2012THE LOGIC OF CONNECTIVE ACTION 2016Filter Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Online News Consumption 2002Democratic Phoenix 2012Social Media and the Decision to Participate in Political Protest: Observations From Tahrir Square 2012Political participation and civic engagement: Towards a new typology 2001"Connecting" and "Disconnecting" With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital 2005Information and Expression in a Digital Age

Cited by

2020Dysfunctional information sharing on WhatsApp and Facebook: The role of political talk, cross-cutting exposure and social corrections 2021Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries 2021TikTok and the new language of political communication 2021Social media filtering and democracy: Effects of social media news use and uncivil political discussions on social media unfriending 2022Youth Activism for Climate on and Beyond Social media: Insights from FridaysForFuture-Rome

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.