TY - JOUR
T1 - A multimodal view of voluntary associations
AU - Lai, Chih-Hui
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - Participation in voluntary associations is often considered challenging due to the fact that humans possess limited time and resources that can be allocated to various types of social activities. The prevalence of multiple modes of communication in our everyday lives may signal the possibility of addressing such traditional problems of voluntary associations. Employing the framework of media multiplexity, this study investigates the factors that predict multimodal participation and how multimodal participation in turn affects overall involvement in voluntary associations. Analyses of the data gathered by the Pew Internet Report show that the degree of affiliations, prior experiences (including participation in online groups, online recruitment, and leadership), and routinized technology use were significant predictors of multimodal group participation. In addition, multimodal group participation mediated the effects of these factors on participation in voluntary associations. Together, multimodal participation and groups' multimodal organizing positively predicted the generation of group impacts. These findings illuminate a new way of understanding voluntary associations in today's media-saturated society.
AB - Participation in voluntary associations is often considered challenging due to the fact that humans possess limited time and resources that can be allocated to various types of social activities. The prevalence of multiple modes of communication in our everyday lives may signal the possibility of addressing such traditional problems of voluntary associations. Employing the framework of media multiplexity, this study investigates the factors that predict multimodal participation and how multimodal participation in turn affects overall involvement in voluntary associations. Analyses of the data gathered by the Pew Internet Report show that the degree of affiliations, prior experiences (including participation in online groups, online recruitment, and leadership), and routinized technology use were significant predictors of multimodal group participation. In addition, multimodal group participation mediated the effects of these factors on participation in voluntary associations. Together, multimodal participation and groups' multimodal organizing positively predicted the generation of group impacts. These findings illuminate a new way of understanding voluntary associations in today's media-saturated society.
KW - ecology
KW - media multiplexity
KW - mixed-mode relationships
KW - social capital
KW - voluntary associations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84903777124&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1369118X.2013.877055
DO - 10.1080/1369118X.2013.877055
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84903777124
SN - 1369-118X
VL - 17
SP - 1017
EP - 1033
JO - Information Communication and Society
JF - Information Communication and Society
IS - 8
ER -