scholarly journals Collective Protest and Expressive Action Among University Students in Hong Kong: Associations Between Offline and Online Forms of Political Participation

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Reichert

Youth have often been described as politically apathetic or disengaged, particularly with respect to more conventional forms of participation. However, they tend to prefer non-institutionalized modes of political action and they may express themselves on the Internet. Young people have also been recognized as having a “latent preparedness” to get politically active when needed. This paper reports forms of offline and online participation adopted by young adults in Hong Kong who were surveyed shortly before the anti-extradition bill social movement of 2019 and 1 year later. The results tentatively suggest that young adults may not be very active in politics when they do not perceive the need to bring about change. However, they are involved in expressive activities and on the Internet more broadly, and ready to turn their latent participation into concrete political participation when they are dissatisfied with government actions and believe it is their responsibility to act against laws perceived to be unjust. Cross-sectional and cross-lagged panel analyses show that youth’s participation in offline political activities is associated with their online participation. Positive effects of past experiences in each mode on participation in offline and online political activities show the mobilizing potential of social media and provide support for the reinforcement hypothesis, though previous participation in offline activities appears as a better predictor of political participation when compared with prior participation on the Internet.

First Monday ◽  
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Paulo Jamil Almeida Marques

This paper examines the difficulties faced by government projects aimed at fostering citizens' political participation by using the Internet. After presenting the participatory tools found on two institutional Web sites (the Brazilian Presidency and the House of Representatives), I examine how the constraints pointed out by a relevant part of the literature in e-participation are reflected in such initiatives. Promoting online participation needs more than providing communication resources, since civic culture and other issues are still key factors in influencing our patterns of political involvement. A participatory use of digital tools depends more on circumstances, such as institutional willingness, than on technical mechanisms available.


Studying the reasons for youth political participation, and how young people get involved in political activities is an important issue for both developed and developing countries. Research in this area started from general tendencies and then moved to specific country factors. The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship, in Russia, between participation in voluntary associations during education and political participation during adulthood. Previously, there was no research in this field for Russia. In the research non-parametric tests for K independent samples, descriptive statistics, logistical regression, and factor analysis were applied. The main data source is the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. The key result is that involvement in voluntary associations during education, especially in political ones, positively affects future youth political participation. Education and income also have positive effects. Russia is generally similar to other countries, including developed, developing, and post-soviet ones. In post-soviet countries, the key interdependencies are similar to Russia, but not so clearly expressed. In Russia, employed young people vote with less probability than unemployed ones, whereas in Belarus we see the opposite.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
William TH Choi ◽  
Dan KS Yu ◽  
Terry Wong ◽  
Tella Lantta ◽  
Min Yang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Information technology and video gaming have potential advantages in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, information regarding the habits and attitudes related to internet use and video gaming in people with schizophrenia is limited. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the habits and attitudes regarding video gaming and information technology usage and their associated factors in people with schizophrenia in Hong Kong. METHODS In this cross-sectional survey, service users with schizophrenia were recruited from 6 halfway hostels and 7 integrated centers for mental wellness in Hong Kong. A 79-item self-report questionnaire was utilized to explore the habits of internet use and video gaming in these people with schizophrenia. The attitude toward video gaming was assessed using the Gaming Attitudes, Motivations, and Experiences Scales. Of the 148 individuals in a convenience sample who were invited to participate in this study, 110 willingly participated (a response rate of 74.3%). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a two-tailed independent t test, Pearson correlation, and principal analysis with 3 methods of rotation (varimax, equimax, and promax). RESULTS Most participants (100/110, 90.9%) had access to the internet and half of them (54/110, 49.1%) used the internet daily mostly to watch videos (66/110, 60.0%) or read news or books, etc (42/110, 38.2%). One-third of the participants (36/110, 32.7%) used the internet to play web-based games, and most of them (88/110, 80.0%) had played a video game in the past year. The most favorable gaming platforms were cellular phones (43/88, 49%) followed by computers (19/88, 22%) and arcade cabinets (6/88, 7%). The most favorable game genre was action games (34/145, 23.4%). Those who had a bachelor’s degree or higher scored lower in social interaction than those with a lower education level (<i>P</i>=.03). Those who played video games daily scored higher in the category of story than those who did not play daily (t<sub>86</sub>=2.03, <i>P</i>=.05). The most popular gaming category was autonomy and the least popular categories were violent catharsis and violent reward. Two motives, “social playing” and “evasive playing,” were formed to describe the characteristics of playing video games. CONCLUSIONS Our data showed a high internet utilization rate among people with schizophrenia in Hong Kong. Only a few of them used the internet to search for health-related information. Our study also exemplified the unique habits of gaming among the participants. Health care professionals could utilize video games to engage people with schizophrenia and promote coping with stress and provide social skills training to such people with schizophrenia. Identification of the gaming attitudes can contribute to the development of serious games for the schizophrenic population. Further investigation is vital for the promotion of mental health through web-based platforms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 692-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Rodrigues Alves da Mota ◽  
Carolina Cavalcanti Gonçalves Ferreira ◽  
Henrique Augusto Alves da Costa Neto ◽  
Ana Rodrigues Falbo ◽  
Suélem de Barros Lorena

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES To analyse the opinions and attitudes reported by medical specialists regarding online health information and their interference in the doctor-patient relationship. Methods A cross-sectional study developed between 2016 and 2017 in Recife-Pernambuco-Brazil, which used a questionnaire in person in a population of 183 specialists from the Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira. The results were analysed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Obtained approval of the Ethics Committee under the voucher number 121004/2016. Results In the opinion of 85.2% of physicians, online health information has both positive and negative impacts on the physician-patient relationship. Faced with a questioning patient who claims to have researched information on the internet, 98.9% of the physicians said they would try to explain the reasons for their diagnosis and treatment. 59% already had a patient who modified the treatment recommended after seeing health information on the Internet. 73.8% agreed that online health information has positive effects for the general public, but 89.1% feel that most patients do not know which online health information is reliable CONCLUSION The physicians surveyed view online health information in a positive way, but realize that it is necessary to be cautious as to their repercussions on the treatment of patients. There is concern about the accuracy of online health information, and it is incumbent upon the physician and health institutions to instruct patients about the sources of quality and that they are able to understand, as its known the patients have an active voice through the guarantee of the ethical principle of autonomy.


Author(s):  
Jody C. Baumgartner

This chapter examines the relationship between the use of the Internet for campaign information and two dimensions of the political engagement of young adults. Drawing on data from a national survey of 18-24 year olds conducted online during the 2008 presidential campaign, it shows that the effect of Internet use for campaign information on political engagement among youth was marginal. While these young adults did take advantage of opportunities to participate on the Internet, reliance on the Internet for campaign information had no significant effect on knowledge about the campaign or more traditional types of political participation. Despite the promise the Internet holds for increasing political interest and participation, those youth who relied on the Internet as their primary source of campaign information did not seem any more inclined to participate in politics than others in their cohort.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amira Abou-Dest ◽  
Cédric T. Albinet ◽  
Geoffroy Boucard ◽  
Michel Audiffren

This study examined whether regular swimming in older adults was related to better cognitive functioning and whether there were any global or selective positive effects of this physical activity (PA) on cognition. The cognitive performances of three groups of sixteen volunteer participants (young adults, sedentary older adults, and older adults who regularly practice swimming) were evaluated using a multitask approach. All participants performed a battery of ten tasks: two reaction time tasks assessing information processing speed and eight experimental tasks assessing three executive functions (EFs), (behavioral inhibition, working memory updating, and cognitive flexibility). The results showed that young adults performed significantly better than older adults on all examined cognitive functions. However, in older adults, regular swimming was related to better performance on the three EFs, but not on information processing speed. More precisely, five experimental tasks out of the eight tapping EFs were shown to be sensitive to positive effects from swimming practice. Finally, the demonstrated benefits of swimming on EFs were not necessarily linked to better cardiorespiratory fitness. The present findings illustrate the validity of using a multitask approach in examining the potential benefits of regular PA on cognitive aging.


Author(s):  
Kjerstin Thorson

This article introduces the concept of citizenship vocabularies and argues that these vocabularies serve as resources for civic and political action. Drawing on interviews with young adults, the author presents a conceptual mapping of citizenship vocabularies. Examples show how citizenship vocabularies play a role in constraining or enabling emerging repertoires of participation such as political consumption. The article concludes by briefly outlining an agenda for exploring the connections among political socialization, citizenship vocabularies, and political participation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoria Spaiser

This paper discusses the results of research on young immigrants’ political participation on the Internet in Germany. The research focuses on young people from Turkish and East European backgrounds. The interrelation between offline political activities and online political participation is explained and the differences between the two groups are examined. While young German Turks are particularly politically active Internet users, young German East Europeans are rather hesitant about using the Internet for political purposes. Statistical models show that young German Turks’ political Internet use is motivated by grievances, while young German East Europeans’ political Internet use is motivated by sentimental pessimism and world-weariness.


2022 ◽  
pp. 241-261
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Adugu ◽  
Pearson A Broome

The use of social media is becoming a feature of political engagement in the Caribbean. This article investigates factors associated with digital and conventional political participation in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Surinam and Haiti using 2012 AmericasBarometer dataset. Based on logistic regression, attitudinal factors positively associated with digital political participation are: political understanding, support for democracy, conventional political participation, and internet usage. Digital political action is less likely for the politically tolerant. Engagement in protest is positively associated with digital political action, signing petition, greater levels of education, being male but less likely for those who use the internet. These findings demonstrate that digital political action and conventional political participation are mutually reinforcing.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Matto

The research presented in this chapter offers an alternative approach to studying and appreciating youth political participation - one that considers the issues or problems motivating political action and the groups through which this political action takes place. Survey research shows that the economy is an issue of top concern not only for the public at large but also for young adults. Three groups focused upon the effects of the economy on young adults emerged in analysis of news coverage of Millennials: Young Invincibles, The Can Kicks Back, San Bernardino Generation Now. Using a qualitative methodological approach, these groups serve as case studies of Millennials responding to a public issue. This chapter offers a description of each group’s origin, mission, and resulting structure.


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