Internet and political activism in Latin America and the Caribbean: Individual resources and access opportunities

Abstract:

The article deals with the effects of the internet on how Latin American and Caribbean citizens relate to politics. Dialoging with the literature that points to the reduction of costs and favoring the individual political protagonism supposedly promoted by this worldwide network of computers, it analyzes the role that individual and structural resources play in the sharing of political content by social networks in this regional context. It mainly tests the hypothesis that there is an interaction between the availability of access in national units and schooling (individual level), with democratizing effects on online political activism. Using data from the Barometer of the Americas project, it points out that such interaction is not relevant to the increase in online activism.

Keywords:
Internet; Political activism; Education