Digital skills as a conditioning factor for digital political participation
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Stefano De Marco
,
Jose Manuel Robles
Abstract
While all forms of Internet activity have an impact on the lives of Internet users, some are particularly beneficial and allow people to improve their daily lives. One of such Internet use is Digital Political Participation (DDP). In this paper we seek to understand how the influence of digital skills on the adoption of Digital Political Participation practices may form the basis of a second level of digital divide and of a set of political inequalities. We operationalize the digital skills construct in terms of users’ Internet competence and level of appropriation. We hypothesize that digital skills have a significant influence on the adoption of beneficial uses of the Internet, such as DPP. At the same time, we examine whether digital skill levels are stratified by socio-demographic background, thereby generating political and social inequality. By looking at the Spanish case, we first tested the adequateness of the items chosen to measure these two dimensions. Second, we looked into sequences of multiple influences between socio-demographic variables and digital skills and between digital skills and DPP. The results show that socio demographic variables have an influence on digital skills. At the same time, digital skills have a strong influence on DPP.
©2014 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Obituary of Karsten Renckstorf
- Articles
- Mediatization in public bureaucracies: A typology
- In the footsteps of Bob and Angelina: Celebrities’ diverse societal engagement and its ability to attract media coverage
- Digital skills as a conditioning factor for digital political participation
- The older player of digital games: A classification based on perceived need satisfaction
- Enjoyment of arousing television news: The role of age and sensation seeking
- Book Reviews
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Obituary of Karsten Renckstorf
- Articles
- Mediatization in public bureaucracies: A typology
- In the footsteps of Bob and Angelina: Celebrities’ diverse societal engagement and its ability to attract media coverage
- Digital skills as a conditioning factor for digital political participation
- The older player of digital games: A classification based on perceived need satisfaction
- Enjoyment of arousing television news: The role of age and sensation seeking
- Book Reviews
- Book reviews
