Yanxi Huang
How do different forms of digital influence work together to weaken democratic participation in chaotic information environments?
Oral presentation
This presentation will explore how the chaotic digital information environment affects contemporary democratic participation. I am interested in this topic because I have observed that internet political discussions, misinformation, and digital media are influencing public opinions and the ways people participate in politics. Previous research by Gaidarji, Standish, Klaas and Shull has explored the relationship between digital information, online political communication, and democratic participation. These studies suggest that digital platforms and online communication may strongly influence public participation. However, it is unclear how different forms of digital influence work together to weaken democratic participation in the contemporary internet environment. Most previous studies only discussed the impact of a single aspect on democracy and ignored the connections between various factors. Therefore, this project asks: How does the information environment affect democratic participation? This project will conduct qualitative observations and analyses of online political discussions, digital media content, and online political communication cases to study how media influence participation in political affairs through misinformation and information chaos. This presentation will also discuss the possible limitations of this research, including the lack of interviews and surveys, and the limited scope of online case studies. This project will be presented as an oral presentation.
Yanxi Huang is a student in the Vantage Arts program at the University of British Columbia. He is interested in digital media and democracy. He hopes to learn more about how online information influences political participation and public opinion.
