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Over the past decade, various online communication platforms have empowered citizens to express themselves politically. Although the political impact of online citizen expression has drawn considerable attention, research has largely focused on whether and how citizen-generated messages influence the public as an information alternative to traditional news outlets. The present study aims to provide a new perspective on understanding citizen expression by examining its political implications for the expressers themselves rather than those exposed to the expressed ideas. Data from a national survey and an online discussion forum study suggest that expressing oneself about politics provides self-reinforcing feedback. Political expressions on social media and the online forum were found to (a) reinforce the expressers’ partisan thought process and (b) harden their pre-existing political preferences. Implications for the role the Internet plays in democracy will be discussed.

The intersection of consumer culture and civic life has long been a topic of academic discubion. This study revisits the relationship between consumption and civic engagement and investigates the moderators of this relationship. Specifically, we focus on news consumption and opinion leadership as intervening factors that condition the way consumption and civic life are interconnected. Our data reveal that both socially conscious consumption and status-oriented consumption are positively related with civic participation. The positive relationships become stronger when news consumption increases or when one's opinion leadership is strong. Implications for research on consumer culture and civic engagement are discubed.

This study examines relationships among individual dispositions, news framing of civil liberties restrictions, security concerns, and political tolerance. We theorize that news frames condition the effects of individual dispositions on security and tolerance attitudes. To explore these relationships, an online-survey experiment was conducted with 650 respondents. This experiment presented alternative versions of news stories about domestic security policies following September 11, and the policies' implications for a fringe activist group. One factor was whether the activists targeted by the government advocated for a cause supported or opposed by the respondent; another factor was whether the story framed government actions against the activists at the individual or group level. Findings show that individual framing--as opposed to group framing--made participants less tolerant of radicals they opposed and more tolerant of radicals they supported. Similar effects were observed for political ideology. Implications of personification as a framing device are discussed.

The importance of citizen dialogue is highlighted in combination with media consumption for engagement. The alternative to forums such as citizen juries, study circles, and deliberative polls is suggested.

Media influences on civic and consumer culture while considering the interrelationships of consumer attitudes and behaviors with civic participation using the 2000 DDB Life Style Study is examined. The personal needs emphasized by product-saturated mass media diminish civic-mindedness by creating as individualistic consumption-oriented culture.

Using netnography and questionnaires, we examine how commercial practices are interpreted by electronic game-players. An analysis of 805 postings on Slashdot (2002-2004) revealed active discussions and insight into gamers' beliefs about the effectiveness and appropriateness of marketers' tactics as well as the perceived impact on self. Players were fairly positive about brands in games when they added realism. Those who were negative about product placements were also negative about advertising. While some players did not think they were influenced by product placements, others reported instances of learning about and then purchasing new brands. A survey of gamers empirically tested observations from the netnography. Positive relationships between attitudes toward advertising in general and attitudes toward product placement in games were noted, and each of these was positively related to perceived impact on purchasing behaviors. Attitudes toward product placements in games partially mediated the effect of attitudes toward advertising on respondents' perceived purchasing behaviors. "I think the billboards don't intrude on the game in any way. I certainly notice them, which is what they're going for, but I don't think they're bad as long as they stay in the background of the game and don't impede on or control the entire level's look and feel" (posting on Slashdot.org 2004). "I pay $40 for a game (an escape from reality) only to have to watch them rake in more from peppering everything with a Coke logo? I don't get it, are we to have ads on everything? I've had enough of it, f-- me, they would tattoo ads on our eyelids if they could" (posting on Slashdot.org 2004). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]