So, Facebook is a vital engine for promoting civic engagement? Perhaps, but major questions of cause and correlation remain. These frequent users were 53% more likely to vote than nonmembers or infrequent users, 78% more likely to try to influence someone to vote, and over two and a half times more likely to attend a political meeting or rally. These “connected” Facebook citizens exhibited greater levels of the social capital that Robert Putnam and others see as vital to civic life, which generally means they are more likely to engage in public life than be disconnected from it.įurthermore, the same Pew survey found that frequent Facebook users were much more politically active than nonusers. They were three times as likely as nonusers to believe that people could be trusted, had closer personal ties, and were more likely to receive social, emotional, and tangible support from friends. A 2011 Pew Internet and American Life survey found that frequent Facebook users (that is, those who visited the site at least once a day) were more likely to exhibit a number of pro-civic attitudes. So, though young voters might be less likely to vote in elections, Facebook users are “civically engaged” in other ways. Some argue that Facebook might be affecting politics by ushering in a new, different era of youth participation. Shoring up this idea, a recent Gallup survey affirmed that 18- to 30-year-olds were significantly less engaged in the 2012 presidential election than they were in 2008.īut Facebook can’t be blamed for the public cynicism that stems from partisan gridlock in Washington. Since 18- to 29-year-olds are historically less likely to vote than other groups, Facebook would not appear to be very fertile soil from which to extract votes. By comparison, only 34% of those 65 and older were SNS users. When broken down by age, 86% of 18- to 29-year-olds used social networking sites. A May 2012 Pew survey found that close to two-thirds of people in the United States reported using some form of social media and almost all of those used Facebook (Brenner 2012). Facebook has a vested interest in convincing the public it has its finger on the pulse of mass culture, but social scientists are skeptical about the site’s impact on the political process.Īnother key argument against Facebook’s impact on American politics is that those most likely to use Facebook are also least likely to be engaged with politics. 22, 2012) and Republican candidate Mitt Romney (10,330,215 on the same day) to their much closer positions in the polls to recognize that Facebook popularity contests aren’t directly translatable to electoral outcomes. As Gregory Ferenstein recently posted on TechCrunch, “if social media mattered in elections, Ron Paul would have a realistic shot at being the Republican nominee.” Indeed, one only has to compare the significant gap in Facebook page “likes” between President Obama (31,129,331 on Oct. In a 2010 blog post, its researchers reported they could predict the winning House candidate over 70% of the time, just by looking at the candidates’ “likes.” While Facebook has a vested interest in convincing the mass public that it has its “finger on the pulse” of mass culture, social scientists have a great deal of skepticism regarding its impact on the political process. In October 2012, Facebook surpassed one billion accounts.

Politicats connect with facebook