Social media within the contexts of public sphere and civic engagement: the case of ‘My Oga at the Top'

The Rise of a Networked Public Sphere

International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies ◽

10.4018/ijicst.2014010105 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 61-73

Author(s):

Debashis ‘Deb' Aikat

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Public Sphere ◽

Citizen Participation ◽

Traditional Media ◽

Contemporary Media ◽

Cultural Origins ◽

Networked Public Sphere

The world's largest democracy with a population of over 1.27 billion people, India is home to a burgeoning media landscape that encompasses a motley mix of traditional and contemporary media. Drawing from the theoretical framework of the networked public sphere, this extensive case study focuses on the role of social media in India's media landscape. Results indicate that new social media entities complement traditional media forms to inform, educate, connect, and entertain people from diverse social, ethnic, religious, and cultural origins. The author concludes that social media enable Indian citizens to actively deliberate issues and ideas, increase their civic engagement and citizen participation, and thus enrich India's democratic society.

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In Blogospheres: Comprehending Sociopolitical Implications

Society and Culture in South Asia ◽

10.1177/2393861719845167 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 258-289

Author(s):

Dev Nath Pathak ◽

Chayanika Priyam

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Public Sphere ◽

Social Transformation ◽

Round Table ◽

The Internet ◽

Close Reading ◽

Political Events ◽

Online Activism ◽

Transformative Politics

This article will focus on the ‘blogosphere’ in India as an emerging forum for critical readings of social and political events and issues. By concentrating on the blogosphere, read as a morphology of horizontal societal communication enabled through a network of blogs and social media sites on the internet, we have tried to offer a glimpse into the kind of issues and interactions that various groups and communities are engaging with and the scope for such online activism to usher in social transformation. For this study, we have limited our discussion to a close reading of contents on blogs as one confronts the positions and critiques offered by individuals and groups and gets a sense of the local concerns articulated in the blog entries. Our concern in this article is to fathom the potential of blogs in transformative politics and mass mobilisation, namely civic engagement against the framework of an emerging public sphere on the Internet by analysing case studies of select blogs, primarily—Kafila, an academic-activist blog, Youth Ki Awaaz (YKA ), a students’ blog and Round Table India, a Dalit blog.

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The Role of Social Media as a Public Sphere in the Algerian Protests: An Analytical Study

Journal of Intercultural Communication Research ◽

10.1080/17475759.2021.1955223 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-21

Author(s):

Youcef Benrazek

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Public Sphere ◽

Analytical Study

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Does Social Media Engagement Translate to Civic Engagement Offline?

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0899764021999444 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 089976402199944

Author(s):

Jaclyn Piatak ◽

Ian Mikkelsen

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Presidential Election ◽

Civic Participation ◽

Political Engagement ◽

Political Campaigns ◽

The Internet ◽

Online Engagement ◽

Informal Volunteering ◽

Using Data

People increasingly engage in politics on social media, but does online engagement translate to offline engagement? Research is mixed with some suggesting how one uses the internet maters. We examine how political engagement on social media corresponds to offline engagement. Using data following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, we find the more politically engaged people are on social media, the more likely they are to engage offline across measures of engagement—formal and informal volunteering, attending local meetings, donating to and working for political campaigns, and voting. Findings offer important nuances across types of civic engagement and generations. Although online engagement corresponds to greater engagement offline in the community and may help narrow generational gaps, this should not be the only means to promote civic participation to ensure all have a voice and an opportunity to help, mobilize, and engage.

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