Dual effects of the internet on political activism: Reinforcing and mobilizing

By analyzing the Citizenship Involvement Democracy survey conducted on American citizens, this paper investigates categorical and demographic disparities between online and offline political participants and examines the two-sided effects (reinforcing and mobilizing) of the internet on political participation. The analysis presents three main findings. First, those who participate in online political activity do not differ categorically from those who conduct their political activity offline. Second, cross-group differences in how actively individuals participate in political activity make little distinction between offline and online modes. There is a trade-off between the generational gap in online political activity and the racial gap in offline political activity, but the gap in political participation between the socioeconomically advantaged and their counterparts appears in both online and offline political activities. Finally, the internet plays a dual role in mobilizing political participation by people not normally politically involved, as well as reinforcing existing offline participation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.