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Smartphones, text messages, and political participation

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Facebook has recently emerged as a central communicative arena for political representatives and constituencies. Still, there are very few studies about Facebook usage in municipal campaigns. The paper adds to this literature by presenting a comprehensive picture of the scope, character and impact of Facebook usage, and the perceptions of candidates about it, based on data collected on 2013 municipal elections in Israel. The first part of the paper presents findings from semi-structured interviews with 67 candidates running for heads of municipalities about their views on Facebook use, the advantages and drawbacks of political activity on Facebook, and the perceived impact of Facebook activity on election results. Findings indicate that contenders consider Facebook as an arena that offers opportunities but is also replete with danger; above all, they feel that presence on Facebook is obligatory. They do not believe that Facebook activity significantly increases the share of votes they receive, but they are convinced that their absence from Facebook would have a negative impact on their election prospects. The second part of the paper studies which variables influence engagement on Facebook campaign pages, and whether Facebook activity, along with institutional and population-level variables, influences the vote share that candidates receive. Using the Facebook activity of 387 candidates running in the municipal elections, it was found that institutional variables (primarily size of constituency and incumbency status) had a significant impact on the scope of Facebook engagement. The impact of Facebook activity on election results is positive but slim. The third part of the paper presents findings from a visual analysis of images from the Facebook pages of contenders. The analysis demonstrates massive use of images, but often unprofessionally and lacking clear goals; Secondary use of made-for-print materials like stickers and posters, alongside the near-complete absence of made-for-Facebook materials like collages and memes; and lastly, focus on images of supporters instead of candidates.
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Based on the theoretical concepts of social networks and technology affordances, this article argues that different social media platforms influence political participation through unique, yet complementary, routes. More specifically, it proposes that Facebook and Twitter are conducive to protest behavior through two distinct mechanisms: whereas the influence of Facebook use is more effective through communication with strong-tie networks, the impact of Twitter use is more effective through communication with weak-tie networks. To test these expectations, we analyze data from a cross-sectional, face-to-face survey on a representative sample of Chilean youths conducted in 2014. Findings in the study lend empirical support for these hypotheses. Consequently, while different social media (in this case, Facebook and Twitter) are similar in their participatory effects, the paths through which this influence occurs are distinct, a finding that highlights the importance of studying political behavior across different media platforms.
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This study employed the uses and gratifications approach to investigate how patterns of mobile phone use are linked to civic and political involvement. Findings reveal that use of the technology for information exchange and recreation are positive predictors of participation in civic life, however associations are moderated by mobile communication competence. Notably, individuals who report higher levels of comfort with mobile telephony and use it for information exchange tend to be more civically and politically engaged than those who report less comfort with the technology. These findings shed new light on the positive role of mobile communication in civil society, while highlighting competence as an emergent dimension of the so-called “second-level” digital divide, which has traditionally focused on computer skills.
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This article reports the results of a study of permission-based advertising via mobile phones. The study, part of the proof of concept for a UK startup, specifically explored the effectiveness of SMS text messaging as an advertising medium for reaching young adults. The results suggest that, with the right execution, the mobile channel has the potential to benefit both advertisers and consumers. The findings also include some suggestions about when and how to use this emerging new medium. Although confined to SMS text messaging in the UK, the results are also likely to be relevant to other countries, and to more advanced mobile communication technologies as these are rolled out. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Direct Marketing Educational Foundation, Inc.
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Although women appear to be less interested and less engaged in politics than men, some evidence suggests that the presence of women as candidates and office holders can help to stimulate political engagement among women. Using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES), we investigate how the election of women in national legislatures influences women's political engagement and attitudes about the political process across 35 countries. We find that sex differences in political engagement as well as political attitudes are apparent in a large number of countries. We find also that female representation is positively associated with attitudes about the political process; however, these effects, while weak, are seen among both men and women.
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Video-based media spaces are designed to support casual interaction between intimate collaborators. Yet transmitting video is fraught with privacy concerns. Some researchers suggest that the video stream be filtered to mask out potentially sensitive ...
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SMS has grown to be a common form of interaction in Norwegian society. Its adoption started among teens but has since been taken into use by other age groups. However, the use patterns for teens seem to be different from those of older users. This paper examines the assertion that SMS is a life phase and not a cohort phenomenon. That is, its use is more intense among teens and more moderate among older age groups. Data for the analysis comes from a series of six nation-wide surveys of Norwegians over the age of 13. Questions on the reported use of SMS were included in all these surveys. This information was adjusted in order to remove the effects of generally increased use over time. The analysis shows that the proportion of text messages sent by different age groups stays rather stable over time. Indeed there seems to be a type of “standing wave” of use associated with older teens and those in their early 20s. While there are cohort effects visible in the data, the analysis indicates that texting is largely a life phase phenomenon. If the curve had flattened out with time it would have indicated that the teens are carrying texting with them as they grow older. This, it seems is not the case. The overall use of SMS has increased in Norwegian society but the relative distribution of the text messages has remained centered around those in their late teens. This seems to indicate that the intense use of SMS is a life-phase phenomenon.