Weblogs, traditional sources online and political participation: an assessment of how the internet is changing the political environment

TLDR

News consumption online and offline is consistently linked to political discussion, involvement, and engagement, yet the impact of emerging information sources on political engagement has received little attention. The study contrasts how traditional online news sources versus blogs predict subsequent political discussion, campaigning, and participation both online and offline. Using secondary analysis of Pew Internet & American Life Project data, the authors compare the predictive power of traditional online sources and blogs for political engagement. Traditional online news use is positively associated with both online and offline political engagement, while blog use is an equally strong predictor of online engagement, supporting the internet’s democratic potential.

Abstract

Research has shown consistently that news consumption both online and offline is related positively to interpersonal discussion, political involvement and political engagement. However, little consideration has been given to the role that new sources of information may exert on different forms of political engagement. Based on secondary analysis of data collected by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, this article contrasts the influence of traditional sources of information online with that of emergent sources (blogs) in predicting further political discussion, campaigning and participation in both the online and the offline domains. The results show that the use of traditional sources online is related positively to different types of political engagement, both online and offline. Most interestingly, the article finds that blog use emerges as an equally important predictor of political engagement in the online domain. Its analyses provide support for the contention that asserts the democratic potential of the internet.