A democracy extends beyond partisan politics. The current study examines how a social media video about the environment can spark political deliberation and participation. Drawing from normative democratic theory, an experimental design was employed to test the effect of the video in engaging citizens in the political process and fostering interpersonal conversations, both online and face-to-face. At the core of these normative democratic outcomes is information efficacy, as individuals are moved to discuss the issue and act to protect the environment from the threat of single-use plastics. The results reveal that social media have the potential to have a positive democratic influence.

民主超越党派政治。当前的研究探讨了有关环境的社交媒体视频如何引发政治思考和参与。从规范民主理论的角度出发，采用了实验设计来测试视频在使公民参与政治进程以及促进在线和面对面的人际对话方面的效果。这些规范性民主结果的核心是信息效力，因为人们被迫讨论这个问题并采取行动保护环境免受一次性塑料的威胁。结果表明，社交媒体具有产生积极民主影响的潜力。