Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy
Most current studies examining the mobilizing or reinforcing role of social media for political participation focus on gender and socioeconomic stratifications and are based in Western democratic societies. Attention to religious status as a form of social stratification concerning social media use...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178283 |
| _version_ | 1811677770867015680 |
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| author | Saifuddin Ahmed Masood, Muhammad Wang, Yifei |
| author2 | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information |
| author_facet | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Saifuddin Ahmed Masood, Muhammad Wang, Yifei |
| author_sort | Saifuddin Ahmed |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Most current studies examining the mobilizing or reinforcing role of social media for political participation focus on gender and socioeconomic stratifications and are based in Western democratic societies. Attention to religious status as a form of social stratification concerning social media use for political participation, more so in non-Western settings, is nearly absent. This study, through survey data from India, investigates the roles of political interest, social media news use, and religious status in explaining online political participation gaps. Results show that individuals with higher political interest and frequent social media news use are likelier to engage in online political participation. Next, social media news use can moderate the relationship between political interest and online political participation, exacerbating the participatory gaps between politically interested and disinterested citizens. However, we also find that these relationships are further conditional upon the religious status of the citizens. Specifically, we observe that social media mobilizes politically interested members of religious minorities more than the majority group. The findings reveal the subtleties of the effects of social media on online political participation in a non-Western context. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of political engagement in the digital age. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:42:39Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/178283 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:42:39Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1782832024-07-05T01:53:36Z Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy Saifuddin Ahmed Masood, Muhammad Wang, Yifei Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social Sciences India Political interest Most current studies examining the mobilizing or reinforcing role of social media for political participation focus on gender and socioeconomic stratifications and are based in Western democratic societies. Attention to religious status as a form of social stratification concerning social media use for political participation, more so in non-Western settings, is nearly absent. This study, through survey data from India, investigates the roles of political interest, social media news use, and religious status in explaining online political participation gaps. Results show that individuals with higher political interest and frequent social media news use are likelier to engage in online political participation. Next, social media news use can moderate the relationship between political interest and online political participation, exacerbating the participatory gaps between politically interested and disinterested citizens. However, we also find that these relationships are further conditional upon the religious status of the citizens. Specifically, we observe that social media mobilizes politically interested members of religious minorities more than the majority group. The findings reveal the subtleties of the effects of social media on online political participation in a non-Western context. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of political engagement in the digital age. Nanyang Technological University This work was supported by Nanyang Technological University [SUG Grant]. 2024-06-10T07:25:53Z 2024-06-10T07:25:53Z 2024 Journal Article Saifuddin Ahmed, Masood, M. & Wang, Y. (2024). Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy. Asian Journal of Communication, 34(2), 135-155. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2024.2317314 0129-2986 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178283 10.1080/01292986.2024.2317314 2-s2.0-85185289582 2 34 135 155 en NTU SUG Asian Journal of Communication © 2024 AMIC/WKWSCI-NTU. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences India Political interest Saifuddin Ahmed Masood, Muhammad Wang, Yifei Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy |
| title | Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy |
| title_full | Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy |
| title_fullStr | Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy |
| title_short | Empowering the religious minority: examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an Asian democracy |
| title_sort | empowering the religious minority examining the mobilizing role of social media for online political participation in an asian democracy |
| topic | Social Sciences India Political interest |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178283 |
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