Internet Use and Political Efficacy among Chinese University Students

Abstract

This article adopts a multi-case study approach to understand how users of internet technologies actually use the technology, and to explore the extent to which users perceive the technologies' purported democratic and deliberative capacities. In-depth interviews, a focus group, a search and analysis of web content, and digital auto-ethnography were used to produce qualitative data. Those participants who engaged in online political expression with strangers or on public platforms reported a belief in their competence to make a difference through the internet, while those who did so only with acquaintances, and those who engaged in no political expression online, did not. Most of the participants articulated a strong belief that 'we', internet users as a whole, are influential, because they believed online public opinion contributed to better solutions to some social problems. This study casts new light on the relationship between internet use, political attitudes, and online political expression.