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New participation, new perspectives? Young adults' political engagement using Facebook

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dc.contributor.authorVan Wyngarden, Katharine E., author
dc.contributor.authorMartey, Rosa Mikeal, advisor
dc.contributor.authorSeel, Pete, committee member
dc.contributor.authorCarcasson, Martin, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T08:08:57Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T08:08:57Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractThis thesis was designed to explore how young adults understand and experience political engagement on Facebook. Some scholars suggest that traditional, active forms of political participation may be declining, creating an uncertain future for democracy. However, other findings suggest that young adults may be choosing to engage in politics through non-traditional avenues, including social networking websites. To explore this possibility, this thesis used 20 in-depth interviews to investigate the nature of youth's political participation on Facebook. The data suggest that Facebook is a meaningful space for political engagement among youth, but that engagement on Facebook is not necessarily comparable to traditional definitions of participation. Rather, it is helpful to think about Facebook as a place for political expression and talk. In addition, the data suggest that scholars should not assume study participants share the same definition of politics with each other or with researchers. As a result, this study argues that scholars should adjust their measures of political engagement on Facebook to account for its features that make political participation unique, rather than assuming that non-traditional participation via social networking websites has limited value or meaning.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierVanWyngarden_colostate_0053N_10909.pdf
dc.identifierETDF2012500115JRTC
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/67321
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectFacebook
dc.subjectsocial networking
dc.subjectpolitics
dc.subjectmedia
dc.subjectinternet
dc.titleNew participation, new perspectives? Young adults' political engagement using Facebook
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineJournalism and Technical Communication
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

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