The empirical study of the impact of internet on civic engagement

以往的研究表明，互联网对公民参与有三种可能的作用：信息来源，审议和公民动员。本研究主要探讨网路在公民参与中的角色，以及网路讨论中影响表达的因素，以及网路讨论对公民参与的影响。在研究1中，2007年进行了在线小组讨论的实验，以检查什么类型的在线讨论产生更深层次的参与政治问题，促进社会宽容。64个团体参与了一系列关于日本教育或贫富差距大的社会所面临的问题的在线讨论。在网上小组讨论前后进行了两次调查。初步结果显示，与只完成两项调查的对照组相比，与持不同政治态度的人进行在线讨论提高了容忍度。它还表明，在线讨论有助于人们 关于我们 人们可以发展对多种观点的理解，因此它促进了政治容忍的增加。在研究2中，在线调查于2010年1月进行（N=1000），以研究互联网作为政治信息来源和公共表达空间的作用。研究结果表明，网络媒体补充传统媒体，以促进人际政治讨论和网络政治表达，这两种形式的政治表达，反过来又影响公民参与。研究还表明，信息媒体的使用，无论是由传统的新闻来源提供的在线新闻还是社会在线信息，例如个人博客和关于政治事务和社会问题的在线社区，都促进了人际政治沟通，尽管在线政治表达只受到个人在线信息消费的鼓励。这意味着有助于参与在线讨论的因素本身也可能是讨论的产物。少

Previous studies show that the internet has three possible roles on civic engagement ; a source of information, deliberation and citizen mobilization. This study focuses on the role of the internet as deliberation, and explores the factors which contribute to expression in online discussion and the effect of online discussion on civic engagement. In study 1, the experiment of online group discussion was conducted in 2007 to examine what types of online discussion produces deeper engagement with political issues and facilitate social tolerance. Sixty four groups engaged in a series of online discussions about issues facing Japanese education or the society with a large gap between rich and poor. Two surveys were conducted before and after online group discussions. Preliminary result shows that online discussion with people having different political attitudes improved tolerance, compared with a control group which completed only two surveys. It also suggests online discussion helped peo … More ple develop understanding of multiple points of view, therefore it fostered increased political tolerance. In study 2, the online survey was conducted in January 2010 (N=1000) to examine the role of internet as a source of political information and a sphere for public expression. Results reveal that online media complement traditional media to foster interpersonal political discussion and online political expression, and these two forms of political expression, in turn, influence civic engagement. It also shows that informational media use, whether online news which provided by traditional news sources or social online information, for example personal blogs and online communities about political affairs and social issues, fosters interpersonal political communication, although online political expression was encouraged only by consumption of personal online information. It means that factors that contribute to participation in online discussion may be themselves products of discussion as well. Less