A Hush Falls Over the Crowd: Diminished Online Civic Expression Among Young Civic Actors

Authors

  • Emily C. Weinstein Harvard University
  • Margaret Rundle Harvard University
  • Carrie James Harvard University

Keywords:

civic expression, civic engagement, online expression, young people, social media

Abstract

An earlier investigation of civically engaged youth’s online civic expression, conducted by the authors, revealed that most youth expressed their off-line civic views in their online lives. But do youth change their online civic expression over time? If so, how and why? A follow-up study of the original participants about two years later provides a longitudinal perspective on online civic expression. Survey responses from 41 U.S.-based civic youth reveal that over 40% changed their expression patterns over the two-year period, with most quieting or silencing expression. These changes correspond to a group-level shift: Withholding civic expression on social media is most common at the time of our follow-up study. Key rationales for individual shifts, as stated by participants, are described.

Author Biographies

Emily C. Weinstein, Harvard University

Emily Weinstein is an advanced doctoral student in Human Development & Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Emily is a Harvard Presidential Scholar and a Spencer Foundation/HGSE Early Career Scholar in New Civics. Contact: emily_weinstein@mail.harvard.edu

Margaret Rundle, Harvard University

Margaret Rundle is a Senior Research Specialist at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Contact: margaret_rundle@harvard.edu

Carrie James, Harvard University

Carrie James is a Research Director and a Principal Investigator at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Contact: carrie_james@harvard.edu.

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Published

2015-01-05

Issue

Vol. 9 (2015)

Section

Articles

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