The Adoption of Social Network Sites for Expressive Participation in Internet Social Movements: A Proposed Model

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to understand, with an emphasis on the social psychological perspective of the research problem, the user’s adoption and use of social network sites for internet social movements as well as the main social psychological outcomes involved. The present study is an initial effort to develop a model that explores how uses of ICTs, particularly SNSs, foster expressive forms of participation that result in civic participation. In doing so, we attempt to investigate the acceptance and use of SNSs by members’ e-movements and SMOs and whether these uses turn results in a host of traditional or offline civic participatory behaviours. A theoratical model is proposed and justified, albeit not empirically validated. Thus, representing an opportunity for future research. The ideas extracted from the discussion should be a help for citizens to create social movements on the Internet. In this regard, numerous practical reflections and suggestions are presented.