New Media, New Civics?

Abstract

Dissatisfaction with existing governments, a broad shift to "post-representative democracy" and the rise of participatory media are leading toward the visibility of different forms of civic participation. "Participatory civics" uses tools of participatory media and relies on theories of change beyond influencing representative governments to seek change. This article offers a framework to describe participatory civics in terms of theories of change used and demands places on the participant, and examines some of the implications of the rise of participatory civics, including the challenges of deliberation in a diverse and competitive digital public sphere.

Miscarriages of Justice in the Age of Social Media: The Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito Innocence Campaign

“…However, it would be wrong to say that this was the only aim. 'Voice', the ability to express concern or dissatisfaction (Zuckerman 2014), in this instance with the treatment of the defendants by the media and the Italia criminal justice system, was also a clear end in itself. None of our interviewees went so far as to claim that their campaign had a significant, direct impact, although one speculated that the international dimension of the campaign, driven by the fact that Knox was a US citizen, mattered greatly in ratcheting up the pressure on the Italian criminal justice system.…”

“…Moreover, the Internet has also been a prominent factor in the rise of 'participatory civics' (Zuckerman 2014), a type of activism that is driven by a desire to impact on single causes through digital media rather than to commit to broadly drawn conventional political movements (Bennett 2012). …”

“…Another characteristic of connective action already discussed above is its expressive style, with social media facilitating personal interventions but also satisfying the need that such interventions should have direct impact (Zuckerman 2014). Connective action favours causes that are not necessarily ideological or political in a traditional sense, sometimes bringing about surprising alliances.…”

“…As campaigners, they approached the case very differently from the passive supporter or 'slactivist' (Zuckerman 2014) whose involvement is limited to signing a petition, donating money or liking something on Facebook. Indeed, interviewees were self-conscious about the extent of their involvement, expressing surprise that they had found the case far more absorbing than they could have anticipated but also struggling to explain what made the case so very appealing.…”

Interpretation of 798: Changes in Power of Representation and Sustainability of Industrial Landscape

“…In the past; laws, policies, planning and even television, newspapers and other media were considered the texts characterized and produced by the powerful social elites, but the rapid expansion of new media has led to the pattern of traditional texts being deconstructed subversively and a new social context and media ecology established. As a more participatory media, new media has become an important means by which to challenge the authority of existing texts by elites [32], which is also an important perspective of this study.…”