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2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Challenges of E-Participation: Can the Opinions of Netizens Represent and Affect Mass Opinions?

Author : Chungpin Lee

Published in: Electronic Governance and Open Society: Challenges in Eurasia

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

This paper aims to understand the representativeness of online public opinion and the influence of online public-issue discussions on mass opinion. By analyzing three survey datasets from Taiwan, the findings show that online civic participants are not representative of the general population; moreover, online discussions of public issues do not directly affect general public opinion. According to these findings, this paper recommends that online public opinions are used with caution as they are not necessarily representative of general public opinion.

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previous chapter E-Participation Social Effectiveness: Case of “Our Petersburg” Portal

next chapter Exploring the Connection Between the Existence of Local Web Communities and Civic Activity: St. Petersburg Case Study

There are several examples that illustrate this; for instance, in June 2018, the Taiwanese government made “a big U turn regarding its childcare policy” due to a citizen proposal being endorsed by “thousands of netizens” (https://www.thenewslens.com/article/98742, visited on 2018/7/12). In addition, in 2016, “four thousand people left angry messages on Hualien County governor Shih’s Facebook homepage”; this resulted in the governor changing his previous decision to calling off school and work in Hualien due to the typhoon (http://www.peoplenews.tw/news/2dbd589c-2958-450e-a1b4-0964c42ad959, visited 2018/7/12).

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Title: Challenges of E-Participation: Can the Opinions of Netizens Represent and Affect Mass Opinions?
Author: Chungpin Lee
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Electronic Governance and Open Society: Challenges in Eurasia
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13282-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-13283-5

Copyright Year: 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13283-5_24

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