People increasingly engage in politics on social media, but does online engagement translate to offline engagement? Research is mixed with some suggesting how one uses the internet maters. We examine how political engagement on social media corresponds to offline engagement. Using data following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, we find the more politically engaged people are on social media, the more likely they are to engage offline across measures of engagement—formal and informal volunteering, attending local meetings, donating to and working for political campaigns, and voting. Findings offer important nuances across types of civic engagement and generations. Although online engagement corresponds to greater engagement offline in the community and may help narrow generational gaps, this should not be the only means to promote civic participation to ensure all have a voice and an opportunity to help, mobilize, and engage.
AnsolabehereS.SchaffnerB. F. (2017). CCES Common Content, 2016. Harvard Dataverse.
2.
BimberB. (2003). Information and American democracy: Technology in the evolution of political power. Cambridge University Press.
3.
BimberB. (2017). Three prompts for collective action in the context of digital media. Political Communication, 34(1), 6–20.
4.
BoulianneS. (2009). Does internet use affect engagement? A meta-analysis of research. Political Communication, 26(2), 193–211.
5.
BoulianneS. (2011). Stimulating or reinforcing political interest: Using panel data to examine reciprocal effects between news media and political interest. Political Communication, 28(2), 147–162.
6.
BoulianneS. (2015). Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of current research. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 524–538.
7.
BuechlerS. M. (2000). Social movements in advanced capitalism: The political economy and cultural construction of social activism. Oxford University Press.
8.
BurtonM. J.MillerW. J.SheaD. M. (2015). Campaign craft: The strategies, tactics, and art of political campaign management: The strategies, tactics, and art of political campaign management. ABC-CLIO.
9.
CnaanR. A.HandyF.WadsworthM. (1996). Defining who is a volunteer: Conceptual and empirical considerations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 25, 364–383.
10.
CogburnD. L.Espinoza-VasquezF. K. (2011). From networked nominee to networked nation: Examining the impact of Web 2.0 and social media on political participation and civic engagement in the 2008 Obama campaign. Journal of Political Marketing, 10(1–2), 189–213.
11.
ColemanJ. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(Suppl.), S95–S120.
DahlR. A. (1998). On democracy. Yale University Press.
14.
DaltonR. J. (2013). Citizen politics: Public opinion and political parties in advanced industrial democracies. CQ Press.
15.
DavisR.BaumgartnerJ. C.FranciaP. L.MorrisJ. S. (2009). The internet in US election campaigns. In ChadwickA. (Ed.), Routledge handbook of internet politics (pp. 241–244). Taylor & Francis.
16.
Delli CarpiniM. X. (2000). Gen.com: Youth, civic engagement, and the new information environment. Political Communication, 17(4), 341–349.
17.
De TocquevilleA. (2002). Democracy in America. Regnery Publishing. (Original work published 1831)
18.
DurkheimE. (1964). The division of labor in society. Free Press. (Original work published 1893)
19.
EsserF.De VreeseC. H. (2007). Comparing young voters’ political engagement in the United States and Europe. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(9), 1195–1213.
20.
FaveroN.BullockJ. B. (2014). How (not) to solve the problem: An evaluation of scholarly responses to common source bias. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25(1), 285–308.
FinkelsteinM. A.BrannickM. T. (2007). Applying theories of institutional helping to informal volunteering: Motives, role identity, and prosocial personality. Social Behavior and Personality, 35, 101–114.
23.
GarrettR. K. (2006). Protest in an information society: A review of literature on social movements and new ICTs. Information, Communication & Society, 9(2), 202–224.
24.
GerberA. S.GreenD. P.LarimerC. W. (2008). Social pressure and voter turnout: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment. American Political Science Review, 102(1), 33–48.
25.
GergenK. J. (2008). Mobile communication and the transformation of the democratic process. In KatzJ. E. (Ed.), Handbook of mobile communication studies (pp. 297–310). The MIT Press.
26.
GibsonR.GreffetF.CantijochM. (2017). Friend or foe? Digital technologies and the changing nature of party membership. Political Communication, 34(1), 89–111.
27.
Gil de ZúñigaH.BarnidgeM.SchermanA. (2017). Social media social capital, offline social capital, and citizenship: Exploring asymmetrical social capital effects. Political Communication, 34(1), 44–68.
28.
Gil de ZúñigaH.CopelandL.BimberB. (2014). Political consumerism: Civic engagement and the social media connection. New Media & Society, 16(3), 488–506.
29.
Gil de ZúñigaH.ValenzuelaS. (2011). The mediating path to a stronger citizenship: Online and offline networks, weak ties, and civic engagement. Communication Research, 38(3), 397–421.
30.
GossK. A. (1999). Volunteering and the long civic generation. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28(4), 378–415.
31.
GranovetterM. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360–1380.
32.
GrimmR. T.Jr.DietzN. (2018). Where are America’s volunteers? A look at America’s widespread decline in volunteering in cities and States [Research brief]. Do Good Institute, University of Maryland.
33.
GueorguievaV. (2008). Voters, MySpace, and YouTube: The impact of alternative communication channels on the 2006 election cycle and beyond. Social Science Computer Review, 26(3), 288–300.
34.
HolbeinJ. B.HillygusD. S. (2016). Making young voters: The impact of preregistration on youth turnout. American Journal of Political Science, 60(2), 364–382.
35.
HoltK.ShehataA.StrömbäckJ.LjungbergE. (2013). Age and the effects of news media attention and social media use on political interest and participation: Do social media function as leveller?European Journal of Communication, 28(1), 19–34.
36.
KahneJ.BowyerB. (2018). The political significance of social media activity and social networks. Political Communication, 35(3), 470–493.
37.
KimY.HsuS. H.de ZúñigaH. G. (2013). Influence of social media use on discussion network heterogeneity and civic engagement: The moderating role of personality traits. Journal of Communication, 63(3), 498–516.
38.
KlofstadC. A. (2015). Exposure to political discussion in college is associated with higher rates of political participation over time. Political Communication, 32(2), 292–309.
39.
KnackS.KropfM. E. (1998). For shame! The effect of community cooperative context on the probability of voting. Political Psychology, 19(3), 585–599.
40.
KrautR.PattersonM.LundmarkV.KieslerS.MukophadhyayT.ScherlisW. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?American Psychologist, 53(9), 1017.
41.
LeeY. J. (2020). Facebooking alone? Millennials’ use of social network sites and volunteering. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 49(1), 203–217.
42.
LeeY. J.BrudneyJ. L. (2012). Participation in formal and informal volunteering: Implications for volunteer recruitment. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 23, 159–180.
McAdamD. (2010). Political process and the development of black insurgency, 1930-1970. University of Chicago Press.
45.
McCarthyJ. D.ZaldM. N. (1977). Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82(6), 1212–1241.
46.
McLeodJ. M.ScheufeleD. A.MoyP. (1999). Community, communication, and participation: The role of mass media and interpersonal discussion in local political participation. Political Communication, 16(3), 315–336.
47.
McPhersonM.Smith-LovinL.BrashearsM. E. (2006). Social isolation in America: Changes in core discussion networks over two decades. American Sociological Review, 71(3), 353–375.
48.
MusickM.WilsonJ. (2008). Volunteers: A social profile. Indiana University Press.
49.
NieN. H.ErbringL. (2002). Internet and society: A preliminary report. IT & Society, 1(1), 275–283.
50.
NorrisP. (1996). Does television erode social capital? A reply to Putnam. PS: Political Science & Politics, 29(3), 474–480.
51.
NorrisP. (2001). Digital divide: Civic engagement, information poverty, and the internet worldwide. Cambridge University Press.
PiatakJ. S. (2015). Altruism by job sector: Can public sector employees lead the way in rebuilding social capital?Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25, 877–900.
54.
PiatakJ. S. (2016). Time is on my side: A framework to examine when unemployed individuals volunteer. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(6), 1169–1190.
55.
PiatakJ. S.DietzN.McKeeverB. (2018). Bridging or deepening the digital divide: Influence of household internet access on formal and informal volunteering. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48, 123S–150S.
56.
PichardoN. A. (1997). New social movements: A critical review. Annual Review of Sociology, 23(1), 411–430.
57.
PutnamR. D. (1995). Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America. Political Science and Politics, 28(4), 664–683.
58.
PutnamR. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster.
59.
RicheyS.ZhuJ. (2015). Internet access does not improve political interest, efficacy, and knowledge for late adopters. Political Communication, 32(3), 396–413.
60.
RotoloT.WilsonJ. (2004). What happened to the “long civic generation”? Explaining cohort differences in volunteerism. Social Forces, 82(3), 1091–1121.
61.
ScheufeleD. A. (2000). Agenda-setting, priming, and framing revisited: Another look at cognitive effects of political communication. Mass Communication & Society, 3(2–3), 297–316.
62.
ScheufeleD. A. (2002). Examining differential gains from mass media and their implications for participatory behavior. Communication Research, 29(1), 46–65.
63.
ShahD. V.ChoJ.EvelandW. P.Jr.KwakN. (2005). Information and expression in a digital age: Modeling internet effects on civic participation. Communication Research, 32(5), 531–565.
64.
ShahD. V.KwakN.HolbertR. L. (2001). “Connecting” and “disconnecting” with civic life: Patterns of internet use and the production of social capital. Political Communication, 18(2), 141–162.
65.
ShandraC. L. (2017). Disability and social participation: The case of formal and informal volunteering. Social Science Research, 68, 195–213.
66.
SkoricM. M.ZhuQ.GohD.PangN. (2016). Social media and citizen engagement: A meta-analytic review. New Media & Society, 18(9), 1817–1839.
SmithD. H. (1994). Determinants of voluntary association participation and volunteering: A literature review. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 23, 243–263.
69.
TajfelH.TurnerJ. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In AustinW. G.WorchelS. (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole.
70.
TangG.LeeF. L. (2013). Facebook use and political participation. Social Science Computer Review, 31(6), 763–773.
71.
TaniguchiH. (2012). The determinants of formal and informal volunteering: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 23, 920–939.
72.
TolbertC. J.McNealR. S. (2003). Unraveling the effects of the internet on political participation?Political Research Quarterly, 56(2), 175–185.
73.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015). Volunteer Supplement, Current Population Survey. Technical Documentation.
VaccariC. (2017). Online mobilization in comparative perspective: Digital appeals and political engagement in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Political Communication, 34(1), 69–88.
76.
VerbaS.SchlozmanK. L.BradyH. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Harvard University Press.
77.
WangL.MookL.HandyF. (2017). An empirical examination of formal and informal volunteering in Canada. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 28, 139–161.
78.
WardJ.de VreeseC. (2011). Political consumerism, young citizens and the internet. Media, Culture & Society, 33(3), 399–413.
79.
WarrenA. M.SulaimanA.JaafarN. I. (2014). Social media effects on fostering online civic engagement and building citizen trust and trust in institutions. Government Information Quarterly, 31(2), 291–301.
80.
XenosM.MoyP. (2007). Direct and differential effects of the internet on political and civic engagement. Journal of Communication, 57(4), 704–718.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
