Patriots, Radicals, Unionists and Reformers: How Political Ideology Shapes Organizational Internet Use

• In Event: 594 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 18. Practices of Mobilization

Abstract

Does political ideology shape how, and how much, political and labor movement groups use the Internet? Specifically, how does an organization’s political orientation and political strategy affect its digital engagement? This paper adjudicates two strands of thought that predominate in digital politics theories – collectivist and individualistic. Some contend that digital politics are more networked, egalitarian, and participatory than pre-digital politics, but scholars also contend that the Internet enables more individualistic politics, which runs counter to the collectivist philosophies of many labor and political organizations. Most digital activism scholarship selects on the dependent variable, often focusing on emergent, ephemeral, left-wing online movements. Therefore, we have known little about offline practices nor how different types of organizations shape digital activism. This research avoids these biases by analyzing 34 existing organizations on opposing sides of a single political issue: Should public employees have collective bargaining rights in North Carolina? These groups range widely from rank-and-file unions to Tea Parties and government associations. This research design allows for variation in the groups’ political ideologies and how, and to what extent, these groups use the Internet. With in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations, as well as an original data set of 50,000 Tweets, Facebook posts and Web site metrics, this study demonstrates that right-wing, reformist groups have higher levels of Internet use while radical left-wing groups have lower digital activist scores. Groups that tend to care more about democracy tend to care less about the Internet.

Author

• Jen Schradie, University of California-Berkeley