The challenge of increasing civic engagement in the digital age.

• Author: Turner-Lee, Nicol

"The genius of democracies is seen not only in the great number of new words introduced but even more in the new ideas they express."--Alexis de Tocqueville (1)

1. INTRODUCTION II. THE NEED FOR A NEW FRAMEWORK III. DISPARITIES IN DIGITAL ACCESS A. Broadband Affordability B. Broadband Availability C. Broadband Accessibility IV. DISPARITIES IN SOCIAL NETWORKS V. THE FUTURE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT I. INTRODUCTION

   The Internet has become the new platform for freedom of speech and the expression of civic ideas. With more than seventy percent of Americans online, virtual micro-communities, or niche web portals, have made it easier for people to deliberately seek out and sustain relationships with those that share similar interests, opinions, and backgrounds. (2) Citizens can pick and choose both the online destination where they want to share and the preferred format to communicate their opinions, whether through a blog, video, podcast, or tweet. Before the Internet, these ideas were shared at community town hall and block club meetings. People came together physically to mobilize around issues and to develop strategies for collective action. The civil rights movement of the 1960s is one such example. Civil rights leaders often planned activities in church basements, ultimately leading to well-orchestrated protests against legalized racism. These demonstrations culminated in a series of laws banning discrimination in public accommodations, public facilities, public education, federally assisted programs, employment, and voting. (3)

   Most recently, the 2008 presidential election demonstrated how the Internet could drive public opinion and voter participation. President Barack Obama's campaign used online tools and social networks in a way that contributed to his victory as the first African American president of the United States. The Obama campaign used the Internet to raise half a billion dollars, the largest amount of contributions to a political operation ever received through online donations. (4) His website, MyBarackObama.com, gathered thousands of e-mail addresses, and, in turn, nurtured a vast base of national volunteers supporting the campaign's field tactics. Young supporters of President Obama, especially those under the age of thirty, used social networking sites to inspire their peers to vote, resulting in more than twenty million young people participating in the 2008 election, an increase of 3.4 million compared to 2004. (5)

   Today, Internet use continues to increase. As previously stated, more than seventy percent of Americans are online, and use of social networking sites has tripled. (6) College-educated, affluent minorities that were previously the slowest to use the web are now more prevalent users. (7) In many ways, this surge in online activity makes it possible for people to organize and unite in more powerful ways and voice opinions on predominant issues. Yet, disparities in digital access, especially among the less educated and poor, further contribute to the further alienation and possible disenfranchisement of these groups. Moreover, the affinity of individuals toward these online, niche-based communities can potentially inhibit broad coalition building, an essential aspect of American democracy.

   While the example of the 2008 presidential election foreshadows the role of the Internet in our democracy, addressing the factors that create and maintain stratification on the web is the main focus of this Essay. I argue that unequal access to the Internet affects civic engagement when groups are underrepresented or on the periphery of online activity. Moreover, political deliberation among a diverse group of citizens is limited when individuals cluster themselves on the web within communities that essentially mirror their offline networks and experiences. In this Essay, I offer policymakers and other civic leaders interested in creating a just and inclusive democracy a series of strategies for transforming the Internet into a place for deliberative exchange that impacts future public policies, promotes digital inclusion, and restructures online platforms to more effectively broker relationships between diverse people and causes.

   This Essay will first explore the tension between traditional and online civic engagement and underscore how the Internet is shaping how public opinion gets exchanged and acted on. Next, I will delve into disparities in digital access and how these restrict the less educated, able, and affluent from contributing to public discourse. Finally, I will offer a series of strategies for policymakers to ensure the Internet becomes a space for more robust civic engagement by drawing attention to its structure, experience, and role in the future of American democracy.

2. THE NEED FOR A NEW FRAMEWORK

   The concepts of democracy and civic engagement have long interested scholars exploring how citizens engage in civic and political processes. (8) Since 1835, when De Tocqueville outlined the challenges facing American democracy, (9) researchers have investigated civic participation and its impact on individual and collective action. Recent scholars, however, have argued that civic engagement has been steadily declining in our nation since the mid-1960s. Robert Putnam concluded that eroding family structures due to two-career households, suburbanization and urban sprawl, increasing television consumption, and generational shifts all led to waning participation in community life. (10) For Putnam, these factors negatively impact the growth of social capital, that which brings citizens together to resolve collective problems.

   Other scholars echo Putnam's beliefs and perceive the Internet as the next medium to hamper the gains of democracy. Frank Rusciano pointed to a degradation in social capital, especially as the Internet prompts people to lose sight of their ability to share and form physical relationships with one another. (11) Thus, the more people are online, the less likely they are engaged in traditional, physical spaces that promote intimacy--whether at a parent-teacher association meeting or a baseball game.

   Sociologist Barry Wellman took another approach to understanding the Internet as help or hindrance to civic engagement. Sharing a concept called "networked individualism," Wellman argues that new technologies are shifting the core of communities from physically fixed and bounded groups to social networks. (12) For Wellman, the Interact has not necessarily contributed to social isolation, but has created new forms of social interaction that cannot be measured against standard indicators of social capital. New online collaboration tools, such as blogs, podcasts, and wikis, may lead to the revitalization of American democracy, as more people are participating and contributing to current public discourse.

   To Wellman's point, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Meetup are becoming the new vanguards for public engagement as they build communities of similar interests and galvanize people around common causes. (13) Becoming the preferred destination for many, social networking websites are reengineering how individuals share, discuss, and exchange ideas, as well as forge connections based on similar interests, tastes, and even friends. In 2009, research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project concluded that "46% of online American adults 18 and older use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 8% in February 2005." (14) Although younger people are more likely to use social networking, over the...