METHODOLOGY & RESULTS (INTERVIEW)
5.1 Action online and activism in the real life, any differences?
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
67
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION
The original main objective of this study is to find out the connection between political action online and conventional activism in the real life through examining the concepts of political knowledge and political efficacy. However, the inadequate data collection for the survey due to the nature of the medium as well as the subject matter studied, the researcher decided to postpone the analysis of the political knowledge and political efficacy during the survey and tried to explain their roles through a series of interviews. Furthermore, to probe deeper into the implication of the survey results, a few interesting themes have also emerged from the interviews.
This chapter will focus on the discussion of these themes, and see how they influence one another, hoping that new insights can be formulated regarding social media or online activism.
5.1 Action online and activism in the real life, any differences?
This study is concerned with socio-political activism performed in two different spheres. Therefore, it is important to find out if they are different from each other, and if they are, how they differ. According to the survey results, action online, as denoted through a series of activities on the application Causes, and political participation in reality are highly correlated. Interesting, the interview results revealed some other significant facts. For all interviewees, there seems to be very little distinction between these two forms of activism. For some, they even believe that these two forms of activism should not be distinguished. This is a significant discovery.
In recent years, with the rise of information technology and especially various
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
68
social media sites, the boundary of many aspects of human daily life has become blurred. This is especially true when it comes to the intersection of our online and offline life spheres. As a result, it is essential to take into account the implication of the medium. To be more specific, as mentioned by several interviewees, the Internet is merely a channel or a tool. For most people, especially the younger generation (usually more technology savvy), activism means more than marching on the road and shouting for social change; it means more than engaging in direct conflicts with the authority or the police. The Internet has provided them with an effective channel to reach various audiences, to help increase awareness among the general public regarding an issue of concern, and finally to create changes.
The Internet is perceived to be a valuable tool for political engagement or for social change. However, as mentioned earlier, as the online and offline aspects of human life are gradually integrating, perhaps it is not as appropriate to try to differentiate online and offline activism. This is a significant response to the various contrasting opinions reviewed in the first chapter. It is believed that political action online either enhances or subtracts conventional activism, according to the commentators cited in the first chapter. However, this belief also implies that these two forms of activism are distinctively different. This, based on the interviews, doesn’t seem to ring true.
This concept of integration of online and offline aspects of people’s life has also been carefully examined in a study by Bimber (2000). In that paper, he argued for the abandonment of the idea of the Internet in connection with some research on civic engagement. In particular, he believed that there should be no distinction between technology-related civic engagement and traditional civic engagement (Bimber, 2000).
In his belief, there are two reasons why the Internet is a problematic construct for research. The first one concerns the integration of different technologies. Already for
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
69
the time being, the variety of information technologies available and used is abundant. When discussing the use of the Internet, it can mean anything from exchanging electronic mails via Gmail15 to watching video clips on YouTube16 to social networking on Facebook to chatting with friends on MSN messenger17. This variety will only grow in the future. Therefore, to speak of the Internet in overly simplified terms cannot uncover the distinct implications for civic engagement (Bimber, 2000).
More relevant to this current study is Bimber’s second reason for abandoning the idea of the Internet is mutualism. Mutualism is defined by Bimber to be the interdependence of new and old modes of communication in civic life (Bimber, 2000).
One example in his paper is that traditional political protests or boycotts are organized and managed via information technologies but are advertised through broadcast and print media. Illustrated with this example is the fact that political engagement is facilitated not through a single means of communication but many.
This is also testified by the interviewees. For them, activism on Causes or even just on the Internet is not a different form of activism but simply the extension of conventional activism. This, nonetheless, does not mean that studying social media activism is of no use. As proposed by Bimber (2000), instead, studies should focus on the characteristics of information. In other words, information on different forms of media can create different levels of effectiveness. Specific to this study, the information available via a social networking site is unique in its way in terms of initiating and maintaining a person’s level of engagement. This is where the concepts of ties and networks come into play. In one of the sections below, this discussion will be further elaborated.
15 Gmail is a free, advertising-supported webmail service provided by Google.
16 YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share and view videos.
17 MSN messenger is an instant messaging client created by Microsoft.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
70