YPP Network Description

The MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP) formed out of recognition that youth are critical to the future of democracy and that the digital age is introducing technological changes that are impacting how youth develop into informed, engaged, and effective actors.

Online protest participation and the digital divide: Modeling the effect of the digital divide on online petition-signing
by Thomas Elliott, Jennifer Earl
September 23, 2016
Scholars have long been concerned about the effect that digital inequalities might have on marginalized populations. Concern for the “digital divide” extends to social movement scholars, who worry that the digital divide will lead to social movements privileging the concerns of the middle class over those of disadvantaged groups. We argue for a novel way of testing for such effects—the use of a Heckman regression model to model participation in online activism.

Thomas Elliott & Jennifer Earl, Online protest participation and the digital divide: Modeling the effect of the digital divide on online petition-signing, New Media & Society, 20:2, page(s): 698-719, 1st published online: 9/23/16. Issue published: 2/1/18