A multimodal view of voluntary associations

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• media multiplexity
• mixed-mode relationships
• voluntary associations
• social capital
• ecology

Notes on contributor

Chih-Hui Lai (PhD, Rutgers University) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at the University of Akron. [email: [email protected]]

Notes

1. The question asking about groups' multimodal organizing did not provide the information about how each of the participant's groups uses multiple technologies for organizing. Hence, multimodal organizing was not treated as a second-level data. Multilevel modeling was not used.