Mobilizers mobilized: Information, expression, mobilization and participation in the digital age

Abstract

This study assesses differences in use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and relates them to patterns of expressive political participation, mobilization efforts, and traditional civic participation. Relying on data collected in August 2008 from a random sample of respondents designed to represent Colombia's adult urban population, this paper provides evidence that informational uses of ICTs (Internet and mobile phones) are significantly related to expressive participation in the online domain, which in turn results in a host of traditional or offline civic and political participatory behaviors indirectly through mobilization efforts. That these relationships occur within the context of a society in crisis suggests that new communication technologies offer an additional pathway to democratic political engagement in such societies. © 2009 International Communication Association.