ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses some of fundamental questions and suggests the contours of an analytical framework for studying political participation in social media. It explores key aspects of political participation, including extra-parliamentarian engagement, in social media. The chapter outlines some examples of political participation that criticise government and business practices, considering their modes in terms of a formal-informal distinction and their agenda in terms of a reformist-systemic distinction. It also suggests that a framework for studying political participation in media that considers the issues of power relations, affordances, practices/literacy and discourses that condition political participation in social media. The chapter proposes information on a four-dimensional model to assess political participation in social media. It argues that to understand political participation in social media, future research should not only include multiple media platforms and practices in the analysis, but also pay attention to their embeddedness in wider societal conditions.
