Abstract

Participation in user-generated content (UGC) consistently relates to participation in various forms of online and offline politics, suggesting that it is likely to complement or even serve as a gateway to instrumental engagement. Yet, there has been little attempt to offer a comprehensive account of the mechanisms that explain these relationships. We address this gap in the literature by theorizing how participation in UGC contributes to civic readiness. Specifically, we advance a conceptual model relating the attributes of UGC involvement to civic readiness through two concurrent processes: a civic learning process that relates the attributes to civic ability and a self-determination process that relates them to civic motivation. In doing so, we suggest that in addition to the development of civic skills, participation in UGC also contributes to civic readiness by promoting the perception that such participation is self-determined. The result is the development of competent and engaged citizens.

中文翻译：

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公民学习与自我决定：一个由用户产生的内容和在职公民之间的公民准备程度的模型

摘要

参与用户生成的内容（UGC）始终与参与各种形式的在线和离线政治相关，这表明它很可能补充甚至充当工具参与的门户。但是，几乎没有人试图全面解释解释这些关系的机制。我们通过理论化参与教资会如何促进公民准备来解决文献中的这一差距。具体而言，我们通过两个并发的过程提出了一个概念模型，该模型将UGC参与的属性与公民准备程度相关联：将属性与公民能力相关联的公民学习过程以及将其与公民动机相关联的自决过程。在此过程中，我们建议，除了培养公民技能外，参与教资会还通过提高人们对这种参与是自决的看法的认识，为公民的准备工作做出了贡献。结果是培养了能干和敬业的公民。