Differential Effects of Capital-Enhancing and Recreational Internet Use on Citizens’ Demand for Democracy

This study seeks to contribute to the growing body of scholarship about the Internet’s role in authoritarian and transitioning countries. Based on two original surveys of Russian and Ukrainian Internet users, online behaviors were classified as either primarily capital enhancing or recreational in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCommunication research Vol. 47; no. 7; pp. 1034 - 1055
Main Authors Stoycheff, Elizabeth, Nisbet, Erik C., Epstein, Dmitry
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2020
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Appraisals
Authoritarianism
Democracy
Internet
Recreational use
Internet
authoritarian
social media
democracy
Ukraine
Russia
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Summary:This study seeks to contribute to the growing body of scholarship about the Internet’s role in authoritarian and transitioning countries. Based on two original surveys of Russian and Ukrainian Internet users, online behaviors were classified as either primarily capital enhancing or recreational in terms of their democratic potential. Indirect and differential models of how these types of Internet use are associated with citizen demand for democracy were tested using serial mediation. Capital-enhancing use exhibited an indirect positive effect on demand for democratic governance by increasing critical appraisals of the incumbent regime, whereas recreational Internet was associated with satisfactory evaluations of non-democratic regimes and more entrenched authoritarian worldviews.
ISSN:0093-6502
1552-3810
DOI:10.1177/0093650216644645