Citizenship in a digital age

I found the Bennett piece Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age (2008) one of the more interesting texts for this week. It discusses how the digital age has transformed our understanding of what civic engagement looks like, and the backlash it has received from proponents of conventional politics. The author argues that the digital age offers a valuable tool for reaching out to the youth population and getting them involved in civic engagement, but is met with obstacles by policy makers, interests groups, and proponents of conventional politics who argue that political chatter will never grow into democratic change. However, Bennett explores how internet activism is developing a new type of socially conscious citizen, through the use of social networking and P2P sharing, young participants are able to share national, global, social and political concerns while using media as a tool for creative expression and mobilization. Bennett argues that the Internet offers an accessible and easy tool that engages this new generation into speaking out about issues of equality and other socially conscious issues; however, these participants experience a disconnect towards the government, often feeling that the government participation hold no real solution for their concerns.

I was a teenager in the emerging years of new media and social networking, I remember the sense of developing a political identity via Blogspot and Myspace. I had the ability to share concerns with friends and write blogs about those concerns, and share opinions, articles, petitions about current events. While, this type of political expression felt more self fulfilling than anything else, Bennett argues that the clout given to it is dependent on the people in power. If political parties/government/policy makers want to reach out to this younger generation of activists than they must give attention to their use of new media as political expression. Bennett argues bridging the gap from conventional politics to this new era in hopes that citizens can begin to feel that their political concerns are not only good for a couple likes on Facebook.

Bennett, L. (2008). Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age.