As they relate to user-generated content on the internet, civic engagement and psychological empowerment have received significant interest in recent years. While past studies have examined online civic participation and political empowerment, the way in which civic engagement offline and content generation online are related to psychological empowerment has not been thoroughly explored. The purpose of this study is to address the roles that gratifications of content generation online (e.g. satisfying recognition needs, cognitive needs, social needs and entertainment needs) and civic engagement offline play in predicting levels of user-generated content on the internet; and how the gratifications of content generation online, civic engagement offline and user-generated content influence the three components of psychological empowerment (i.e. self-efficacy, perceived competence and desire for control). This study reasserts that psychological empowerment can be enhanced by one’s degree of content generation online and by both one’s attitude and behavior in civic engagement offline.
Alexander, B. ( 2008) ‘Web 2.0 and Emergent Multiliteracies’, Theory into Practice47(2): 150-60.
2.
Burger, J.M. and H.M. Cooper ( 1979) ‘The Desirability of Control’, Motivation and Emotion3(4): 381-93.
3.
Chang, W.Y. ( 2005) ‘Online Civic Participation and Political Empowerment: Online and Public Opinion Formation in Korea’, Media, Culture & Society27(6): 925-35.
4.
Dimmick, J., S. Kline and L. Stafford ( 2000) ‘The Gratification Niches of Personal Email and the Telephone’, Communication Research27(2): 227-48.
5.
Dovey, J. and H.W. Kennedy ( 2006) Game Cultures: Computer Games as New Media. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
6.
Flanagin, A.J. and M.J. Metzger ( 2001) ‘Internet Use in the Contemporary Media Environment’ , Human Communication Research27(1): 153-81.
7.
Florin, P.R. and A. Wandersmann ( 1984) ‘Cognitive Social Learning and Participation in Community Development’, American Journal of Community Psychology12(6): 689-708.
8.
Gillmore, D. ( 2006) We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly .
9.
Hall, J. ( 2001) Online Journalism: A Critical Primer. London: Pluto Press.
10.
Hayes, A.F., D.A. Scheufele, and M.E. Huge ( 2006) Nonparticipation as Self-censorship: Publicly Observable Political Activity in a Polarized Opinion Climate’, Political Behavior28(3): 259-83.
11.
Heller, K., R. Price, S. Reinharz, S. Riger and A. Wandersman ( 1984) Psychology and Community Change: Challenges of the Future (2nd edn). Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
12.
Herring, S.C., L.A. Scheidt, E. Wright and S. Bonus ( 2005) ‘Weblogs as a Bridging Genre’, Information , Technology and People18(2): 142-71.
13.
Itzhaky, H. and A.S. York ( 2000) ‘Empowerment and Community Participation: Does Gender Make a Difference’? Social Work Research24(4): 225-34.
14.
Jennings, M.K. and V. Zeitner ( 2003) ‘Internet Use and Civic Engagement: A Longitudinal Analysis’, Public Opinion Quarterly67(3): 311-34.
15.
Katz, J.E. and R.E. Rice ( 2002) Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement and Interaction, pp. 114-38. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
16.
Katz, R. ( 1984) ‘Empowerment and Synergy: Expanding the Community’s Healing Resources’, Prevention in Human Services3(2-3): 201-26.
17.
Leung, L. ( 2001) ‘College Student Motives for Chatting on "ICQ"’ , New Media & Society3(4): 483-500.
18.
Leung, L. ( 2007) ‘Unwillingness to Communicate and College Students’ Motives in SMS Mobile Messaging’, Telematics and Informatics24(2): 115-29.
19.
Leung, L. and R. Wei ( 2000) ‘More than Just Talk on the Move: Uses and Gratifications of Cellular Phones’, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly77(2): 308-20.
20.
Lin, C.A. ( 1998). ‘Exploring the Personal Computer Adoption Dynamics’ , Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media41(1): 95-112.
21.
McCarthy, J.D. and M.N. Zald ( 1977) ‘Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory’, American Journal of Community Psychology82(6): 1212-41.
22.
Menon, S.T. ( 1999) ‘Psychological Empowerment: Definition, Measurement and Validation’, Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science31(3): 161-4.
23.
Nardi, B.A., D.J. Schiano, M. Gumbrecht and L. Swartz ( 2004) ‘Why We Blog’, Communications of the ACM47(12): 41-6.
24.
Newhagen, J.E. ( 1994) ‘Media Use and Political Efficacy: The Suburbanization of Race and Class’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science45(6): 386-94.
25.
O’Reilly, T. ( 2005) ‘What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software’, URL (consulted 21 July 2009): http://www.oreilllynet.com/pub/a/reilly/tim/news/2005//09/30/what-is-web-20.html
26.
Palmgreen, P. and J.D. Rayburn ( 1979) ‘Uses and Gratifications and Exposure to Public Television: A Discrepancy Approach’, Communication Research6(2): 155-80.
27.
Papacharissi, Z. ( 2003) ‘The Blogger Revolution: A Uses and Gratifications Study’, paper presented at the Association of Internet Researchers Annual Conference, Toronto, October.
28.
Papacharissi, Z. and A.M. Rubin ( 2000) ‘Predictors of Internet Use’, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media44(2): 175-96.
29.
Parker, B.J. and R.E. Plank ( 2000) ‘A Uses and Gratifications Perspective on the Internet as a New Information Source’, American Business Review18(2): 43-9.
30.
Poster, M. ( 1995) The Second Media Age. Cambridge: Polity Press.
31.
Price, R.H. ( 1990) ‘Wither Participation and Empowerment?’, American Journal of Community Psychology18(1): 163-7.
32.
Putnam, R.D. ( 2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community . New York: Simon and Schuster.
33.
Rappaport, J. ( 1984) ‘Studies in Empowerment: Introduction to the Special Issues’, Prevention in Human Services3(2-3): 1-7.
34.
Rosengren, K.E. ( 1976) ‘Uses and Gratifications: A Paradigm Outline’ , in G. Blumber and E. Katz (eds) The Uses of Mass Communications, pp. 135-65. Harmondsworth : Penguin.
35.
Rubin, A.M. ( 1983) ‘Television Uses and Gratifications: the Interactions of Viewing Patterns and Motivations’, Journal of Broadcasting27(1): 37-51.
36.
Schwarzer, E. ( 1994) ‘Optimism, Vulnerability and Self-beliefs as Health-related Cognitions: A Systematic Overview’, Psychology and Health9(3): 161-80.
37.
Tipton, R.M. and E.L. Worthington, Jr (1984) ‘The Measurement of Generalized Self-efficacy: A Study of Construct Validity’, Journal of Personality Assessment48(5): 545-8.
38.
Tomas, D. ( 2000) ‘The Technophilic Body: On Technicity in William Gibson’s Cyborg Culture’, in D. Bell and B. Kennedy (eds) The Cyberculture Reader, pp. 175-89. London: Routledge.
39.
Trammell, K.D., A. Tarkowski and J. Hofmokl ( 2004, June) ‘Republic of Blog’ [‘Rzeczpospolita blogów’], paper presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers, Brighton, 19-22 September.
40.
Uslaner, E.M. ( 2007) ‘Trust, Civic Engagement and the Internet’ , Political Communication21(2): 223-42.
41.
Wimmer, R.D. and J.R. Dominick ( 1994) Mass Media Research: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
42.
Zimmerman, M.A. ( 1990) ‘Taking Aim on Empowerment Research: On the Distinction between Individual and Psychological Conceptions’, American Journal of Community Psychology18(1): 169-77.
43.
Zimmerman, M.A. ( 1995) ‘Psychological Empowerment: Issues and Illustrations’ , American Journal of Community Psychology23(5): 581-99.
44.
Zimmerman, M.A. and J. Rappaport ( 1988) ‘Citizen Participation, Perceived Control and Psychological Empowerment’, American Journal of Community Psychology16(5): 725-50.
45.
Zimmerman, M.A., B.A. Israel, A. Schulz and B. Checkoway ( 1992) ‘Further Explorations in Empowerment Theory: An Empirical Analysis of Psychological Empowerment’, American Journal of Community Psychology20(6): 707-27.
