METHODOLOGY & RESULTS (INTERVIEW)
4.1 Background information and new research questions
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CHAPTER 4
METHODOLOGY & RESULTS (INTERVIEW)
4.1 Background information and new research questions
The survey is useful in investigating the correlations among the major concepts in this study. However, as the literature review has pointed out. It is also essential to incorporate the concepts of networks and ties in studying social media activism. The author plans to learn more about this connection through intensive interviews with some users from certain cause groups. Another reason for conducting interviews is to probe deeper to supplement as well as explain the results from the survey.
In addition, the survey, due to a limited size of sample, has been unable to answer certain aspects of the research questions, such as those of political knowledge and political efficacy, especially in response to conventional activism. As a result, these interviews are to probe into these un-specified aspects. This section first introduces the interviewees before moving on to present the results of the interviews placed under deferent themes. Before that, the author proposes some new research questions, which it is hoped to be answered through the interviews.
RQ 4: What are some driven factors behind the use of Causes?
RQ 5: What are the merits and problems of Causes?
RQ 6: What roles do ties and networks play in the connection between online and offline activism?
RQ 7: How do political knowledge and political efficacy influence the level of political involvement?
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a talk with the researcher to leave their email. In total, ten volunteers put down their emails. The researcher then sent out an invitation to these ten people three times in a period of two weeks. In the end, five people responded and were successfully interviewed. They are all men. Only one is heterosexual, and the rest are all homosexual. All of them are Americans. One of them is Native American, and another is African American by ethnicity. The interviews took place between 2010/4/8 and 2010/4/23. These people were all contacted through emails first and then on Skype, one of the popular communication technologies. All the conversations were recorded for further analysis. To ensure their privacy, their names are replaced with English letters. The following table introduces these interviewees.TABLE 4-1: Basic Information about the Interviewees Interviewee Sex Sexual
Orientation
Occupation Age Location Interview dates
Notes: M= male; F= female; G= homosexual; S= heterosexual; mins= minutes
4.2.2 Activism on Causes
This section looks at some themes that arise in response to the uses of Causes, and also specifically cause groups dedicated to Proposition 8.
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Motivation behind the uses of Causes
Given the social networking feature of Facebook, most of the interviewees were invited to use the application, Causes, in the very beginning, and mostly by friends on Facebook. Most of them stress the fact that it was through invitation that they got to learn about this application. This shows the significance of bridging networks on Facebook and also responds to the social networking feature in the survey. Each of the excerpts below has something to do with ties and networks, and the underlined parts illustrate the motivations for joining the Causes.
Mr. B: I started using Causes maybe like two years ago when that application first came out. I
started using it because I was invited. I don’t think I would have known about it if someone had
not invited me. The first ones were related to my tribe, which had to do with land recovery and
alternative energies.
Mr. D: It was either one year or two years ago, and I think I was invited by a friend. I agreed
with the cause, so I joined up. It was someone I didn’t know in person, but I knew him online on
one of the Facebook groups. I wanted to use it because I agreed with the cause. I agreed with the
message I saw there. And it didn’t look like any real commitment to do anything, and also a lot
of things on Facebook are a simple click to let people know I support that cause or have that
opinion.
Mr. E: One of my friends on Facebook sent me an invitation to one of the causes. The first one
was about breast cancer awareness. At that time, we were doing Relay For Life10, which is a
cause to help stop breast cancer. That’s what got me involved with the Causes.
10 Relay For Life is the signature fundraising event of the American Cancer Society.
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51 Mr. C: I found about Causes through Facebook in one fashion or another. It was through
invitation, but I don’t get as many of those anymore. I was reluctant to give any money through
Facebook Causes until a friend Erica Tiffany, who works for Lotus Outreach11, started doing
fundraising for Lotus Outreach though Facebook Causes. I started making initial contributions
to her group.
To answer Research Question 4 about the motivation behind the uses of Causes, the following excerpts illustrate the motives brought up by the interviewees. The excerpts above show that there seem to be various motivations behind the reasons why they started to use Causes. Mr. B is a Native American. The first few cause groups he joined are related to issues that happened or are happening in or to his community or ethnic group. He also stressed the fact that if he had not been invited by friends, he would not have joined and used the application. For Mr. D, the motivation seems to be simpler. He joined the group mainly because he agreed with the cause and it would not require much effort or commitment to be part of it. For Mr. E, it was mainly because the cause had something to do with his real life work in raising awareness for breast cancer.
All these four people were invited or recruited by friends on Facebook to be part of Causes. This illustrates the significance of networks and ties. This situation for Mr.
A, however, was a little different. He found out about Causes when he was reading an article about the United Nations and Burma issues. Even though, he wasn’t invited by anyone on Facebook, but the fact that he found out about the application through a post on Facebook also illustrates the aspect of connection on Facebook.
11 Lotus Outreach is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the education, health and safety of vulnerable women and children in the developing world.
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52 Mr. A: I think I started probably about three years ago, shortly after I got on Facebook. The first
one I became a member of was the UN and the Burma issue, with the monks in Burma. I sought
it out myself. It was through me reading something that was posted on Facebook.
The motivations can be placed into two categories, with the first being intra-motivation and the other being inter-motivation. Belonging to the intra-motivation group are Mr. A, Mr. C, and Mr. D. They joined the cause groups mainly because how they felt about the cause. On the other hand, belonging to the inter-motivation group are Mr. B and Mr. E, who were responding to an aspect of their life through getting involved on Causes.
Causes as an information channel
The information flow on the application is a very important feature that characterizes its uses. For most of them, information sent to them from Causes is what drives them to log into the application and to find out more about the issue that is being presented to them. They then move on to share the information with their friends although in different manners and for different purposes. This responds to the information retrieval feature of the survey.
Mr. A: Sometimes the Causes will send out different bulletins. That pushes me to log in to the
application. I generally read the information sent to me. If I think the information is interesting
or needs action, then I will repost it or invite other people to it. I share the information online or
in conversations. I usually post on my general wall, then everyone can see it. Sometimes, for
specific issues, I target at certain people. I will go through my friendlist and send to those people
to try to get them to do action. Anyone that I come into contact with that I discuss things with.
From close friends to friends to colleagues at work. Basically through work and friends.
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Mr. A actively shares the information he learns about from Causes with his friends both online and in daily conversations. Mr. C, on the other hand, often receives information from friends who are celebrating their birthday by raising money for a cause. This happens quite regularly, about once every month. And according to Mr. C, nine times out of ten, he ends up making a donation. When he receives these messages from friends, he usually logs into the application and makes a donation. Mr. D, however, participates in a more passive way of information sharing.
He believes simply by being part of a cause group, he reveals to other people something about himself. By doing so, he is making a statement about himself or his own belief. And he also acknowledges the fact that this is a more passive way to let people know what his opinions are.
Potential and problems
In this section, the answer to Research Question 5 about the merits and problems of Causes can be found. Many of the interviewees mentioned what they believe to be the potential as well as several problems associated with activism on Causes. The potential agreed upon by most of them is Causes’ ability to raise awareness for an issue in question.
Mr. A: For me, I want to increase the awareness about issues by inviting people and get more
people involved with it and make sure people understand that by us coming together whether it
is through Causes on Facebook or whatever it is, we do have a voice in our democracy. I think
this is a new way of doing it, of mobilizing people. I think Causes does have some value, but I
don’t think it has the value a lot of people want it to have. A lot of time, it is very similar to lazy
democracy. People vote and don’t look at it again. A lot of the applications are driven by
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54 passionate people. It is the same people who post and are active.
Mr. E: I think it is a great thing. It is a new way of communicating with others. The Internet is
huge now. It is a very good way of spreading the words. This is a way for those people who are
not involved in political or other kinds of causes to put a base to those causes and to have people
investigate on their own. I definitely believe that this form of activism eventually leads to
conventional activism. I really believe that the election of our president was largely imparted to
being able to send the words out online. Most of our younger generation are very computer
savvy. They know what they are doing online. It brings younger audiences. It brings in a way of
communicating to more people.
Mentioned in the excerpts above, raising awareness of an issue seems to be the most significant potential of Causes. A closer look at the answers, however, reveals some interesting facets. Firstly, Causes is believed to be a platform where people can voice their opinions. It acts an equal-activism platform where everyone has a chance to participate in a cause they care about in one way or another. However, there is the problem of discontinuity with this form of activism. Only certain people are active users, namely those who are passionate about the cause and the groups are not usually maintained well because the organizers have lost their interests or have become too busy. This second view is expressed by Mr. B, who believes Causes has a potential but is not used to fully realize the potential. Finally, Causes is considered an efficient tool for information to be delivered. Mr. E even believes that due to a prospect of the Information Age, sooner than later, the majority of people will have access to this form of activism online.
Aside from the potential of this form of activism, several problems associated with activism on Causes are also pointed out by the interviewees. In addition to the
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problem of discontinuity, there is also the issue of privacy proposed by Mr. D. Being affiliated with a certain cause reveals a certain aspect of a user’s identity or belief.
This revelation of information can sometimes be problematic.
Mr. D: If you didn’t let everyone know what your opinions were and some people did not know
that you were gay or that you supported gay marriage, I could see them having problems with
that. I almost think that’s a problem with the users that they are not being honest in their
everyday life, and that would be a sort of problems more than the Causes would be a problem. I
could also see that by subscribing to a cause, you would be saying you agree with someone’s
position, and if the owner of that cause updated that cause to have a more extreme position or
have arguments that you don’t agree with, there can be a problem.
It should also be noted that some interviewees pointed out that Causes are not an ideal medium for online activism. According to them, this application is becoming segregated from the general framework of Facebook. Some pointed out that fan groups or pages on Facebook that are dedicated to specific causes are much more useful both in information sharing and also in organization for events.
Mr. A: I think there’s an increase of people getting away from the Causes aspect and actually
just creating a fan page. Facebook is changing. Less people are using Causes. Fan page is a lot
easier to use. And the bulletins they send out show up more often. And a lot of time, they are all
linked to organizations.
Mr. C: I’ve got a number of friends who are on Facebook and are deeply involved in same-sex
marriage issues. I don’t think much of it is done through Facebook Causes. I get emails from
Facebook group pages or fan pages. Facebook fan pages and groups are more useful in
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56 communicating with people. There is higher traffic and these pages and groups than there is in
the Causes pages. Causes used to be well integrated with the rest of Facebook, but now it is
segregated.
4.2.3 Online vs. Offline Activism
This section examines the discussion about real-life activism and its connection with activism on Causes. Several themes have emerged regarding this subject.
Online vs. offline activism
In the interviews, respondents were asked to compare their activism experiences online and offline. For most of them, activism on Causes does not so much change their activism in the real life as enhances it.
Mr. D: I am more engaged and doing more things counting the online Facebook activities. I
think my real life activities have stayed the same, but online activities have definitely increased.
Generally, people who read my feeds know me in the real world, so I am talking to the same
audience but in different ways.
This view of Mr. D is shared by Mr. B as well as Mr. E. Both of them believe that the Internet has not changed the essence of their activism, but it definitely has enhanced it. However, for Mr. A and Mr. C, the situation is a little different. For both of them, timing seems to be a key feature. Mr. A first came into contact with the Proposition 8 issue when he was living abroad. For him, the Internet, or more specifically, Facebook, was an ideal channel for him to stay updated with happenings at home in the USA. He only became active in the real life activism after he had returned to the USA. For Mr. C, his involvement fluctuates with his volunteer work
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related to Proposition 8. The more preoccupied with Proposition 8 matters, the more involved.
Mr. A: When I first became a member of Causes, I wasn’t living in the United States. At the
same time, when I was coming back, that’s definitely when I became more involved on the
ground to move the agenda forward.
Mr. C: My engagement has changed, but not because of Causes. My involvement in same-sex
marriage issues will fluctuate on whether there is something to do in court. As a lawyer, I will
file a brief. If I am working to file a brief, I am putting many hours into it. I am focusing a lot
time, effort and energy on it. When I am not filing a brief, I am probably not doing very much.
Affiliation and involvement
An interesting aspect shared in common among some interviewees is the fact that affiliation with a certain aspect of their life, such as a specific identity (Mr. B and Mr. E), an organization (Mr. A and Mr. C) or even just the professional background (Mr.
C and Mr. D), can make a big difference in their level of involvement. In fact, their affiliation plays a very critical role in both initiating and maintaining their involvement in both online and offline activism.
Mr. B: I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I am Native American, and our history is filled
with being oppressed. Because of that and because of the things that not just what my ancestors
had experienced but even just my grandparents and parents had experienced and some of the
very horrible things they have experienced. Because of that, I know what is like having to deal
with as a minority in this country. I know what is like to deal with prejudice or people making
decisions for you based on your race or sexuality. Because of that, I have to be more active.
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58 Mr. E: Being African American is a struggle all on its own and I think that when the possibility
that Barack Obama would be President, I felt I needed my voice to be counted. During the
elections, I made a point of trying to be more aware of the issues. It was one of the few times
that I felt my voice could be helpful. I did not agree with Obama’s stance on Don’t Ask Don’
Tell12, so I made efforts to share my view online and in my community. As a gay man, I struggle
with the Prop 8 issue because I have friends who got married while it was still legal. I did not
want to see my rights turn into second class citizen status. I became involved because it affected
me personally.
Mr. C: My involvement comes through my church and through wanting to be involved and to
Mr. C: My involvement comes through my church and through wanting to be involved and to