Something Old and Something New: A Comment on “New Media, New Civics”

Abstract

This is a response to the article by Ethan Zuckerman “New Media, New Civics?” published in this issue of Policy & Internet (2014: vol. 6, issue 2). 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. Zuckerman's 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. Jennifer Earl responds.

Social media, porous boundaries, and the development of online political engagement among young citizens

“…Frequent instances of ephemeral (“five minute”) activism, forwarded in expanding peer networks, are supposed to enable easy transitions from private opinions to public actions and thus increase the levels of citizen participation (Earl and Kimport, 2011: 72–76). Earl (2014) argues that low-cost activism is potentially important as such. It is well known, she notes, that “most people don’t act, and more people act when costs are lower than act when costs are higher” (Earl, 2014: 174).…”

“…Earl (2014) argues that low-cost activism is potentially important as such. It is well known, she notes, that “most people don’t act, and more people act when costs are lower than act when costs are higher” (Earl, 2014: 174). These analyses, thus, reevaluate activities that have been demonized and labeled as “clicktivism” and “slacktivism” (Halupka, 2014).…”

Brokerage Roles and Strategic Positions in Twitter Networks of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

“…For example, Tufekci () suggests that symbolic online acts such as changing one's profile picture on social media websites to indicate one's support of a particular cause or campaign could have real power, if it constituted an odd act of defiance in an otherwise compliant political environment. Earl () disputes the assumption that online activism only has value if it leads to offline activism, arguing that each repertoire can serve a distinct and useful role. This article contributes to the debate by studying online brokerage in the case of the Egyptian revolution and testing whether it is governed by the same rules as on‐the‐ground brokerage.…”

Social Movements and Media

“…However, many interested in studying participation in online protest do not write with any reference to this well-known design issue, or the theoretical insights that have been uncovered by using this essential method of difference (except see Rohlinger & Bunnage, 2017). Likewise, Earl (2014) and Earl and Beyer (2014) have pointed to problems with research on online surveillance and repression, which primarily owe to a lack of familiarity with the existing social movement scholarship on repression.…”