The impact of Internet use patterns on political engagement: A focus on online deliberation and virtual social capital

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kim, Ji-Young^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Journalism and Communication Studies, Sungkyunkwan University, 53 Myeongnyun-dong 3-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-745, South Korea. Tel.: +82 2 760 0688; Fax: +82 2 760 0390; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: While numerous studies have examined the impact of the Internet on civic engagement in politics, inconclusive results have been revealed that optimistic and pessimistic accounts compete with each other. This study contends that the political effects of the medium depend upon the way it is used, and examines how different patterns of Internet use yield different political consequences in the case of South Korea, a country where political influence of the Internet is crucial. The primary modes of Internet use in focus are e-deliberation and e-social capital. By analyzing an online survey, we find that the former is a significant predictor of citizens' political engagement whereas the latter has only limited impacts. The study concludes that the proliferation of virtual communities over the net, in and of itself, is not an indicator of political revitalization, but deliberative practices of citizens could be an integral element to regenerate civic political life.

Keywords: Internet use patterns, political participation, deliberation, social capital

DOI: 10.3233/IP-2006-0087

Journal: Information Polity, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 35-49, 2006