Tweeting, talking, or doing politics? Testing the influence of communication on democratic engagement

Abstract

Being politically and civically engaged is known to benefit society. Using online forums, such as Twitter (the social media platform now known as X), for democratic engagement is now commonplace. However, research is inconclusive on whether offline and online activities similarly result in real-world engagement. Using secondary analysis of Pew data, both types of engagement are compared among Twitter users. Results show Twitter users engaged online, but not offline. However, those who posted about political/social issues democratically engaged both offline and online.

Keywords

• Twitter
• Democratic engagement
• Political engagement
• Opinion Climate