Political engagement among young activists in the Philippines has changed since new media technologies have gained critical mass. This article reports on how engagement has been redefined by the young and how information and communication technologies (ICTs) have contributed to the amplification of their voices in political life. Activists and ordinary youth were interviewed through unstructured individual and group conversations, and they were asked about their definitions of political, civic, and social engagement. The expression of opinions online is highly valued as a political activity and is believed to be a politically consequential action. Young activists strategically use ICTs and social networks to gather support for their causes and to gain the attention of the traditional media and politicians.
BennettWL (2008) Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
3.
BennettWLXenosM (2004) Young voters and the web of politics: Pathways to participation in the youth engagement and electoral campaign web. Working paper 20, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
4.
BoydD (2008) Why youth (Heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. In: BukinghamD (ed.) Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. The John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
5.
BurnsNSchlozmanKLVerbaS (2001) Private Roots of Public Action: Gender, Equality and Political Participation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
6.
DiMaggioPHargittaiENeumanWRRobinsonJP (2001) Social implications of the Internet. Annual Review of Sociology27: 307–336.
7.
DrewDWeaverD (2006) Voter learning in the 2004 presidential election: Did the media matter?Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly83(1): 25–42.
8.
Gil de ZunigaHPuig-i-AbrilERojasH (2009) Blogs, traditional media online and political participation: An assessment of how the Internet is changing the political environment. New Media and Society11(4): 553–574.
9.
GustafssonN (2010) New hopes for democracy or a pirated elite? Swedish social media users and political mobilization. In: Western Political Science Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, April 2010.
JohnsonTJKayeBK (2003) A boost or a bust for democracy? How the web influenced political attitudes and behaviors in the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics8(3): 9–34.
LevinePLopezM (2002). Youth voter turnout has declined by any measure. Working paper, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Available at: www.civicyouth.org/research/products/fact_sheets_outside.htm(accessed 3 May 2010).
MirandillaM (2010) Cybercampaigning for 2010: The use and effectiveness of websites and social networking sites as campaign platforms for the 2010 Philippine presidential election. Available at: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1553724(accessed 3 May 2010).
16.
NahSVeenstraASShahDV (2006) The Internet and anti-war activism: A case study of information, expression, and action. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication12(1): 230–247.
17.
NorrisP (2001) Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18.
PertierraR (2003) Science, Technology and Everyday Culture in the Philippines. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University, Institute of Philippine Culture.
19.
PertierraR (2009) Technologies of transformation: The end of the social or the birth of the cyber network? In: Alampay E (ed.) Living the Information Society in Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), pp. 36–54.
20.
PriceV (1992) Public Opinion. London: Sage.
21.
Puig-i-AbrilERojasH (2007) Internet use as an antecedent of expressive political participation among early Internet adopters in Colombia. International Journal of Internet Science2(1): 28–44.
22.
PutnamRD (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.
23.
RojasHPuig-i-AbrilE (2009) Mobilizers mobilized: Information, Expression, mobilization, and participation in the digital age. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication14(4): 902–927.
24.
SunsteinC (2001) Republic.Com. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
25.
TolbertCJMcNealRS (2003) Unraveling the effects of the Internet on political participation?Political Research Quarterly56(2): 175–185.
26.
TownsendDNAlampayEA (2011) Rural ICT policy advocacy, knowledge-sharing, and capacity building. Draft 8.0. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
27.
XenosMMoyP (2007) Direct and differential effects of the Internet on political and civic engagement. Journal of Communication57(4): 704–718.
