The Impact of Social Media on Online Engagement: Analyzing Crowdfunding and Online Petition Activities

Abstract

The impact of Internet media on social and political participation has long been a subject of debate. This study focuses on online participation behavior as the dependent variable, investigating whether social media platforms such as Twitter (currently X) and Facebook serve as affordances that encourage participation. The data used in the study were from a web survey conducted in 2020 targeting individuals aged 20 to 39 (N=541), and logistic regression analysis was performed using Bayesian inference. Preliminary analysis, conducted with Facebook and Twitter usage as the dependent variables, indicated that older individuals, university graduates, and those with a larger number of friends tended to use Facebook. On the other hand, younger individuals and university graduates tended to use Twitter. Subsequent analysis, with online participation experience as the dependent variable, showed a tendency for individuals using Facebook to participate in crowdfunding and for those using Twitter to participate in online petitions. The findings of this study suggest that there are differences based on the characteristics of social media platforms in terms of what kind of participation behavior they encourage in their users.