Kari Steen-Johnsen

Social media and mobilization to offline demonstrations: Transcending participatory divides?:

This paper examines how the use of social media affects participation in offline demonstrations. Using individual web survey data from Norway, we ask whether social media usage serves to re-affirm or transcend socioeconomic divides in participation. In addition to data on demonstration participation in general, we also use the data on the Rose Marches that were organized after the 22/7 terror events as a critical case. Our results show that the type of participant mobilized via the social media is characterized by lower socioeconomic status and younger age than those mobilized via other channels. We also show that connections to information structures through social media exert a strong and independent effect on mobilization. Our findings thus appear to corroborate the mobilization thesis: social media represent an alternative structure alongside mainstream media and well-established political organizations and civil society that recruit in different ways and reach different segments of the population.

After Utøya: How a High-Trust Society Reacts to Terror—Trust and Civic Engagement in the Aftermath of July 22

The article examines short-term effects of terror on trust and civic engagement in Norway. Prior to the July 22, 2011 attacks, Norway ranked among the nations with the highest levels of trust and civic engagement in the world. How does a nation of trusters react to terror? Based on two web surveys conducted in March/April 2011 and August 2011 short-term effects on trust, fear, and political interest and participation are analyzed. Two competing hypotheses are explored: first, the “end-of-innocence hypothesis,” which assumes that the attacks have disrupted trust and instilled a new culture of fear, and second, the “remobilization hypothesis,” which assumes that the attacks have led to a reinforcement of trust and of civic values. Our results show increased interpersonal and institutional trust as well as a modest increase in civic engagement, especially among youth. Moreover, there is little increase in experienced fear within the population. Our study therefore supports the remobilization-of-trust hypothesis. Contrary to the intended aims of the attacker, the structures of trust and civic engagement seem to have been reinforced in Norwegian society. This study in part corroborates findings concerning short-term effects after September 11, 2001.

Echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics in online debates

In this article, we take issue with the claim by Sunstein and others that online discussion takes place in echo chambers, and suggest that the dynamics of online debates could be more aptly described by the logic of ‘trench warfare’, in which opinions are reinforced through contradiction as well as confirmation. We use a unique online survey and an experimental approach to investigate and test echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics in online debates. The results show that people do indeed claim to discuss with those who hold opposite views from themselves. Furthermore, our survey experiments suggest that both confirming and contradicting arguments have similar effects on attitude reinforcement. Together, this indicates that both echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics – a situation where attitudes are reinforced through both confirmation and disconfirmation biases – characterize online debates. However, we also find that two-sided neutral arguments have weaker effects on reinforcement than one-sided confirming and contradicting arguments, suggesting that online debates could contribute to collective learning and qualification of arguments.

Perceived societal fear and cyberhate after the November 2015 Paris Terrorist Attacks.

ABSTRACT Fear is one of the negative outcomes of terrorist attacks. Currently, there is a need to understand how societal fear and fear of terrorism might be shaped and induced by social-media discussions. This study analyzed how exposure to cyberhate was associated with perceived societal fear after the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. Demographically balanced data sets were collected from France, Spain, Finland, Norway, and the United States four weeks after the attacks. Cyberhate exposure was associated with higher perceived societal fear in all countries studied even when adjusting for confounding factors. This was particularly evident in the case of cyberhate related to terrorism. Hateful online communication after disruptive events may contribute to a social climate of fear and escalate societal uncertainty. There are, however, indications that social trust may bolster against perceived societal fear, hence enhancing resilience.

Changing Patterns of Volunteering and Participation

In this chapter, we investigate whether the Norwegian model of organizational participation and volunteering is changing due to exogenous processes of individualization, digitalization, and migration. Analyzing a varied set of data, including population surveys and qualitative case studies, some interesting and paradoxical results were discovered. Regarding the process of individualization, we identify the development of a more reflexive and individualized form of volunteering indicated by a loosening of membership bonds between individuals and voluntary organizations, a multiplication of arenas for volunteering, more short-term volunteering, and an increased self-oriented motivation for volunteering. However, we also observe stability in (high) levels, volumes and areas of volunteering (sport, leisure, and culture), and a continuing importance of local contexts for mobilizing volunteers. We see this stability as an indication of a rather successful, multifaceted reconfiguration of Norwegian civil society, in the sense that it adapts to new, more individualized motives and practices among volunteers. With regard to digitalization, we find digital media mainly to support participation and volunteering, both within and outside of traditional organizations by underpinning reflexive individualized volunteering and supporting traditional organizations informational services. With regard to immigration, analyses show lower levels of voluntary participation (tied to lower levels of education and income) among immigrants and their descendants and the formation of and larger participation in religious, immigrant- and culture-specific organizations and networks. Although these particular findings may indicate challenges for the traditional Norwegian model of volunteering in integrating the immigrant population, the overall trends found in this chapter are indicative of adaptation on the part of the Norwegian model to larger social processes of change.