Internet Use and Social Participation of Young Adults: Evidence from Rights Safeguard Online in China

The digitalization process in developing countries is accelerating, and the Internet has become a medium for connecting politics, society, and citizens’ lives. Previous studies have explored the positive connections between internet growth and citizens’ social participation, but the mechanisms of effects have not been revealed. For young adults, safeguarding rights online is the most common form of social participation in the digital era. In this study, we provided an analytical framework on the impact of internet use on young adults’ rights to safeguard online based on the public sphere theory. Using data from 1,343 young adults in China, we examined the influence of internet use on youths’ intention to safeguard their rights online and the mediating role of functional perceptions. The results showed that Internet use was positively associated with young adults’ intention to safeguard their rights online, perceptions of three internet functions, which are resource acquisition, issue discussion, and fairness promotion, mediated this association, and the mediating role of internet function perceptions was more significant in participation in activities organized by others than in self-initiated rights safeguard. This study reveals the intrinsic mechanism of internet use to social participation, and we argued that the public sector in developing countries should be aware of the influence of the Internet on social participation and take reasonable measures to ensure that young adults effectively and legally engage in digital platforms.