The influence of online social networks on civic and political engagement

This paper rests on the argument that online interaction has changed the nature of social, group, and individual influence, as well the nature of the types of behaviours evidencing conformity to the virtual group. As online interactions through social media experience exponential growth, understanding remains limited as to how such interactions influence and engage members of online communities. Empirically orientated research underpinning our traditional understanding of influence, particularly from the fields of social psychology and sociology can be broadly divided into three interrelated categories:Social influence; group influence; and individual influence. I propose that the growth of people’s involvement in online social networks is blurring the boundaries not only between these categories, but also between the various types of influence and influencers within these categories, to such an extent that traditional models of influence and power need rethinking.

This paper’s contribution is therefore to address a gap in the literature by providing a contemporary conceptualisation of influence that is mediated through online social networks.