TY - JOUR
T1 - Online Media and Political Participation
T2 - The Case of Malaysia
AU - Willnat, Lars
AU - Wong, W. Joann
AU - Tamam, Ezhar
AU - Aw, Annette
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - This study is based on a survey of 526 adult Malaysians who were interviewed shortly before the 2008 national election about online media use, levels of political participation, and voting intentions. The goal was to document the role of online media in a society that controls political information in traditional media and, in turn, compels citizens to seek alternative news sources online. As predicted, the findings indicated that online media use was positively associated with higher levels of political participation among Malaysian voters. The use of and exposure to social networking sites, political blogs, political online videos, party websites, and political ads on cell phones showed strong associations with political activism. However, the use of political online media did not predict voters' likelihood of voting.
AB - This study is based on a survey of 526 adult Malaysians who were interviewed shortly before the 2008 national election about online media use, levels of political participation, and voting intentions. The goal was to document the role of online media in a society that controls political information in traditional media and, in turn, compels citizens to seek alternative news sources online. As predicted, the findings indicated that online media use was positively associated with higher levels of political participation among Malaysian voters. The use of and exposure to social networking sites, political blogs, political online videos, party websites, and political ads on cell phones showed strong associations with political activism. However, the use of political online media did not predict voters' likelihood of voting.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879054868&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84879054868&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15205436.2012.734891
DO - 10.1080/15205436.2012.734891
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84879054868
SN - 1520-5436
VL - 16
SP - 557
EP - 585
JO - Mass Communication and Society
JF - Mass Communication and Society
IS - 4
ER -