Communication Competence as a Foundation for Civic Competence: Processes of Socialization into Citizenship

A New Space for Political Behavior: Political Social Networking and its Democratic Consequences

“…Therefore, offline information sources appear important to encouraging political SNS use only when they can be translated online through expressive activities. This is reminiscent of relationships observed among adults under the rubric of the citizen communication mediation model and in studies among adolescents and young adults focusing on communicative competency (Shah, McLeod, & Lee, ).…”

“…While many have heralded the rise of social networking sites as a location of social and political interaction, little is yet known about the factors that promote their use in a more political sense. The mass media has long been recognized for its socializing influence: For example, media consumption contributes to political knowledge and opinion formation in adolescents (Arnett, ; McLeod, ), and serves as a gateway to participation, especially among younger teens (Shah, McLeod, & Lee, ). As McLeod () notes, exposure and attention to news media – whether print, broadcast, or online – are critical in distinguishing adolescents who become active citizens from those who remain disengaged from public life.…”

More Harm Than Good? Online Media Use and Political Disaffection Among College Students in the 2008 Election

“…In studying the role of the Internet in politics and public affairs, scholars have begun parsing different aspects of online media, finding that different online media relate to different user outcomes at cognitive and behavioral levels (Shah, McLeod, & Lee, ). Furthermore, scholars have broken down Internet use into information‐seeking and interpersonal interaction (Katz, Rice, & Aspden, ; Shah, Cho, Eveland & Kwak, ).…”

From Information Reserve to Media Literacy Learning Commons: Revisiting the 21st Century Library as the Home for Media Literacy Education

“…Scholars are increasingly exploring the connections between media education and information use as a predictor for civic engagement (Kahne 2010;Mossberger, Tolbert, and McNeal 2008;Shah, McLeod, and Lee 2009). Whether students are playing games online, chatting in anonymous spaces, or posting information to social media networks, the results of their efforts will contribute to the new types of civic engagement that exist online.…”