Relating digital citizenship to informed citizenship online in the 2008 U.S. presidential election

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Buente, Wayne

Affiliations: School of Communications, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2550 Campus Road, Crawford Hall, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Tel.: +1 808 956 3360; Fax: +1 808 956 5396; E-mail: wbuente@hawaii.edu

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between the concept of the digital and informed online citizen. To begin, the paper provides an overview of digital and informed citizenship. Next, the study proposes a problematic relationship between digital and informed citizenship by emphasizing barriers to informed citizenship online. Scholars have noted the influence of socioeconomic factors to explain differential uses of the Internet especially for political participation online. Citizens who are motivated and interested in politics tend to be wealthy and well-educated. Furthermore, media scholars contend that environments rich in content choices, such as the Internet, may contribute to a voluntary segmentation of the electorate. This leads to a situation where many citizens abandon news in favor of entertainment contributing to an unequal distribution of political resources and skills. Despite these concerns, the study finds that digital citizenship, understood as frequent home Internet use with a high speed connection, is a strong characteristic of the informed online citizen. Results suggest that digital citizenship may be particularly important for young citizens to develop their political information efficacy. The future implications for digital and informed citizenship in the Internet age are discussed.

Keywords: Digital citizenship, informed citizenship, digital divide, Internet use, political information, presidential election

DOI: 10.3233/IP-150375

Journal: Information Polity, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 269-285, 2015