This page is referenced by:

• 1 media/HitRecord-combinedimage.jpg media/HitRecord-combinedimage.jpg 2013-08-14T16:35:44-07:00 Themes 12 A navigation path based on themes split 2013-12-02T10:53:04-08:00

  The nature of political participation is changing in an era of networked communication

  More and more we rely on each other for news and information, more and more we work through issues and concerns in conversation with others within our social networks, and more and more we tap the affordances of new media in order to mobilize for change. As we do so, then, there are practical and ethical challenges: Young people--indeed, all of us--need to take responsibility for the quality of information they circulate, they need to recognize the risks and opportunities of political engagement, they need to understand the copyright implications of their choices to remix and share media, and they need to respect the contributions of others within their community.

  As defined by the MacArthur Foundation’s Youth and Participatory Politics research network, participatory politics refers to “interactive, peer-based acts through which individuals and groups seek to exert both voice and influence on issues of public concern. Importantly, these acts are not guided by deference to elites or formal institutions. Examples of participatory political acts include starting a new political group online, writing and disseminating a blog post about a political issue, forwarding a funny political video to one’s social network, or participating in a poetry slam.”

  This path navigates key themes and concepts that emerge through this changing participation landscape. You can explore the media of this library based on these thematic groupings: