Platform affordances and political participation: How social media reshape political engagement

Yannis Theocharis (1) , Shelley Boulianne (2) , Karolina Koc-Michalska (3) , Bruce Bimber (4)

1 TUM - Technische Universität Munchen - Technical University Munich - Université Technique de Munich
2 MacEwan University
3 Audencia Business School
4 UC Santa Barbara - University of California [Santa Barbara]

Political participation opportunities have been expanding for years, most recently through digital tools. Social media platforms have become well integrated into civic and political participation. Using a cross-national sample from the United States, United Kingdom, and France, this paper examines whether acts of participation associated with social media should be classified using a traditional, five-factor solution to the structure of participatory acts. The distinction between online and offline participation is set aside, focusing instead on acts supported and enabled by social media, and in particular on differences between the use of Twitter and Facebook. The analysis shows that acts enabled by social media do not load with traditional factors in the structure of participation. Political acts employing Twitter and Facebook are distinct in the factor structure of participation.

Mots clés: Political participation social media platforms affordances political engagement; Political participation; social media; platforms; affordances; political engagement

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Yannis Theocharis, Shelley Boulianne, Karolina Koc-Michalska, Bruce Bimber. Platform affordances and political participation: How social media reshape political engagement. West European Politics, 2023, 46 (4), pp.788-811. ⟨10.1080/01402382.2022.2087410⟩. ⟨hal-04042814⟩