{"title":"Leaders and Followers in Social Networking Environments: A Conceptual Model","authors":"C. Livermore, Pierluigi Rippa","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014070103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014070103","url":null,"abstract":"This conceptual paper focuses on understanding the characteristics and behaviors of leaders and followers in social networking communities. The study differentiates between four groups of actors: \"Established Leaders\", \"Emergent Leaders\", \"Newbies\", and \"Supporters\". Based on a review of the literature on leaders and followers in virtual groups, the Leader/Follower Behavior in Social Networking Environments model is presented. The model assumes that the characteristics of actors determine the type of leader or follower they are likely to become. Building on this assumption, the model considers leader/follower characteristics and behaviors as independent variables that lead to a range of outcomes for actors. The outcomes can range from the leader/follower increasing his/her power, maintaining the same level of power, decreasing his/her power, or leaving the community altogether. The discussion and conclusions section develops the theoretical implications from the model and offers suggestions on how the model can be tested and expanded.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"75 1","pages":"33-45"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74165584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital Teens and the 'Antisocial Network': Prevalence of Troublesome Online Youth Groups and Internet trolling in Great Britain","authors":"J. Bishop","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014070101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014070101","url":null,"abstract":"A concern shared among nearly all generations of adults is that they must do something to tackle the problems in society caused by young people. They often forget that they were once young, and all too often blame young people for all of problems in their community. This paper challenges this view and shows how the blaming of Internet trolling on today's young people — called digital teens — is probably inaccurate. What might otherwise be called Troublesome Online Youth Groups (TOYGs), this paper looks at data collected from subjects in three UK regions (n=150 to 161), which includes young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs). Unlike might be typically thought, the data shows that far from these NEETs being the causes of Internet trolling it is in fact the areas with high levels of productivity, higher education and higher intelligence that report lower perceptions of quality of life that these electronic message faults (EMFts) most occur in.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"2 1","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83493595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"French Primary Elections and the Internet, the Social Network of the Socialist Party, the Coopol","authors":"M. Luca, Anaïs Theviot","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014070104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014070104","url":null,"abstract":"Beyond traditional places for exchanges within organizations (for example, ward or branch meetings), virtual communication forums give members of political parties an opportunity to express their opinions on line. The social network of the Parti Socialiste (PS) in France, the Coopol, was created on January 12, 2010, and seems to hold out new prospects for public debate. The mediated exchanges which took place on this platform have allowed us to analyze the political debate among activists between July and October 2011. The results are based on different types of data (statistical analysis of text, web surveys and qualitative interviews) gathered while observing the debate on the forum and through interviews with voters and activists. The rationale for the use of three different approaches is related to the fact that the article presents several studies that can be evaluated in their totality, but should be taken singly in each case. The information provided by this article makes it an important case study which explains in an empirical way the latest theoretical approaches within this research field.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"14 1","pages":"46-65"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74307893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"E-Participation and Deliberation in the European Union: The Case of Debate Europe","authors":"R. Radu","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014040101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014040101","url":null,"abstract":"Civic online participation garnered much interest during the last decade relative to the transformation of the concept of democracy in a move from representative to participatory. In the European Union (EU), both the types and the number of online opportunities for citizen empowerment have diversified tremendously with the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT). The present study undertakes an in-depth research of Debate Europe, an online deliberation mechanism initiated in 2008 by the European Commission. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis was carried out in order to examine thoroughly the contributions received from posters for the two most popular discussion threads on the English-language portal in the 2009 EP electoral year. The empirical evidence allowed for the identification of participation dynamics based on two dimensions: interactivity and rationality. Findings suggest that such moderated discussions advanced high interactivity and rationality that could provide valuable input at the EU level. While the prerequisites for a transition from micro-public spheres to transnational civic engagement exist, this is done only partially due to the lack of an adequate infrastructure to feedback opinions into institutional decision-making mechanisms in the EU.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"35 1","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90084013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Online News Consumption on Young People's Political Participation","authors":"H. Xiaoming, Wen Nainan, Cherian George","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014040102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014040102","url":null,"abstract":"The informational usage of media has been identified as one of the most important factors that facilitate citizens' participation in political activities. This relationship becomes exceptionally intriguing in the 21st century, which is characterized by a growing popularity of new media, and concurrently, a decline of political and civic engagement in many societies, particularly among young people. Research findings about the link between new media usage and political participation have been inconclusive, and specific processes through which new media usage, especially the informational usage of such media, may affect political participation remain less than lucid. In this study, we propose a theoretical framework under which political knowledge and political efficacy are used to explain the possible connection between online news consumption and political participation. Through a survey of university students in Singapore, this study shows that the young people's consumption of online news is directly related to both online and offline political participation. At the same time, the consumption of online news is also indirectly related to online and offline political participation via political efficacy. Political knowledge, however, is found to be a mediating factor between online news consumption and online political participation but not offline political participation. This study not only allows us a more holistic view of the impact of online news on young people's political and civic engagement but also contributes to the existing literature on the relationship between news consumption and political participation by incorporating both online and offline political activities in the proposed theoretical model.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"99 1","pages":"16-31"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75927704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Politics of E-Learning: A Theoretical Model","authors":"C. Livermore, M. Raisinghani, Pierluigi Rippa","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014040104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014040104","url":null,"abstract":"The goal of this research was to study the political strategies utilized in the context of E-Learning. The research is based on the E-Learning Political Strategies (ELPoS) model. The model is based on two dimensions: (1) the direction of the political strategy (upward or downward) and (2) the scope of the political strategy (individual or group based). The model assumes that the interaction between these dimensions will define four different types of E-Learning political strategies, which, in turn, will lead to different outcomes. The model is presented in the context of the literature on E-Learning and is accompanied with four short case studies that demonstrate its political strategies. The discussion and conclusions section integrates the findings from the case studies and outlines the rules that govern the utilization of political E-Learning strategies in different organizational contexts.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"28 1","pages":"53-67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82283273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social Tyranny and Democratic Governance in the Information Age","authors":"Andrew Ward","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014040103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014040103","url":null,"abstract":"The development and diffusion of inexpensive, reliable and easy to use public Internet access means that large portions of the U.S. and global populations now regularly communicate with one another. Will the increasing penetration of the Internet into the social and political lives of people facilitate Thomas Jefferson's vision of a world \"founded on the primacy of individual liberty and a commitment to pluralism, diversity, and Community\"? While many people believe that the answer to this question is \"yes\", such affirmations often rest on adducing cases not theoretically linked to one another. In contrast, the present paper provides a broadly philosophical, conceptual analysis of how use of the Internet can lead to forms of \"social tyranny\" in which one or more elements of a community impose their own beliefs and interests on others in that community. For instance, dependence on Internet access and use for social action or pertinent information about social activities may lead to marginalization and exclusion for people whose Internet access or use is limited. Furthermore, the connectedness or mode of connectedness of groups or organizations may give them an unfair advantage disseminating and advocating the messages they deliver to members of the communities in which they exist. The conclusion is not that we should adopt attitudes and policies that are antithetical to the use of the Internet. Rather, using ideas from Dewey and Habermas, amongst others, the conclusion is that it is important to reflect broadly and critically on how use of the Internet can transform the character of the public domain and the deliberations about governance that occur within that domain.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"61 1","pages":"32-52"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84406047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evolving In Step or Poles Apart?: Online Audiences and Networking During Poland and France 2011-12 Election Campaign","authors":"Karolina Koc-Michalska, D. Lilleker","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014010103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014010103","url":null,"abstract":"Comparative studies are rare in the study of online communication campaigning. The authors chose two cases, Poland and France, to describe the two campaigns for the Parliamentary elections. Content analysis allowed the authors to detect online communication strategies and parties' attempt to reach different audiences. Web-cartography illustrates the parties' network connections. The authors find strong cross-country and resource-based differences for the more interactive and engaging features (Web 2.0), which are not that powerful for explaining audience-targeting strategies. Overall a sales strategy and a focus on marketing dominated over e-representation (exhibiting the parties' political record). In both countries social media platforms are well incorporated into online strategies. Facebook dominates in Poland, Twitter in France. Web cartography gives a counterintuitive picture of the Polish parties' network being much more personalized but also of more ghettoing within the supporting environment.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"41-60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81184827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rational Criticism, Ideological Sustainability and Intellectual Leadership in the Digital Public Sphere","authors":"Dounia Mahlouly","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014010105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014010105","url":null,"abstract":"This review postulates that today's digital environments unveil an era of connectivity, in which digital communication devices exercise a general influence on social interactions and public deliberation. From this perspective, it argues that connective practices are likely to affect two main components of the normative public sphere, namely rational criticism and ideological sustainability. Drawing on the case of the 2011 Arab revolutions, in which social media proved to have a strategic function, this paper illustrates the ideological heterogeneity of social networks. Additionally, this article considers how issues of rational criticism and ideological sustainability could be improved by regulating online interactions and proposes that the digital divide could act as a natural process of regulation for today's connective and transnational public sphere.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"1 1","pages":"78-90"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79892638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Measuring Online Deliberation in Local Politics: An Empirical Analysis of the 2011 Zurich City Debate","authors":"U. Klinger, U. Russmann","doi":"10.4018/ijep.2014010104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014010104","url":null,"abstract":"Administrations increasingly use the internet to improve citizens' participation in political processes. While research on online political communication and e-democracy is growing, we still have little empirical evidence on the quality of online participation and deliberation processes. This paper focuses on an online local deliberation process, the 2011 Zurich City Debate, and seeks to investigate the specific quality of such online public communication. By building an index of a quality of understanding (IQU), the authors analyse 1.991 postings that participants have contributed in five thematic debates on local political issues. Five indicators were defined: statement of reasons, proposals for solutions, respect, doubts, and reciprocity. The authors conclude that participants have respectfully voiced opinions, that in two fora half of the postings were reciprocal, i.e. people exchanged views and commented on each other. However, the data gives the impression of a polite and reciprocal debate, but without much argumentation, propositions or doubts.","PeriodicalId":13695,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. E Politics","volume":"166 1","pages":"61-77"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87531033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}