Regional Youth in Search of Civic Identity: Digital Participation and the Observer Model

Abstract

Introduction. At present, the tasks of forming civic identity actualize the issues of digital civic participation and understanding the specifics of online activism as a factor and indicator of youth civic identity. The purpose of the article is to build a typology of models of digital civic activism and analyze observational models as a mechanism for the manifestation of civic identity. Materials and Methods. The study is based on the results of a survey of residents of the Sverdlovsk region aged 14–25 years (n = 1 150). The object includes students (schoolchildren, secondary vocational schools and higher educational institutions) and working youth. The use of correlation analysis and the calculation of power-law averages made it possible to determine the relationship between digital participation models and the manifestation of civic identity. Results. A typology has been made based on the status of involvement, three categories have been constructed: observers, doers, digital passivists. Young people include an observer position in the forms of manifestation of civic digital activism. The group of “observers” inside is heterogeneous and can be differentiated by the intensity of the use of digital practices. It is determined that the discrepancy between self-identification as an observer and real practices of digital civic participation create internal contradictions in the formation of civic identity. Discussion and Conclusion. The study made it possible to determine that young people’s identification of themselves as “citizen observer” is a convenient model for them, which allows them to overcome the contradictions of identity and performs a number of functions. The transformation of the position of an “observer” into an interested one and easily switching from an outside observer to an active participant and vice versa was recorded. The results can be used in the development of regional youth projects, the implementation of civil initiatives, in the work of youth public organizations.

Keywords

• digital participation
• civic identity
• civic engagement
• urban youth
• digital activism