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Research Article

Offline political engagement leads to online political voice among Kyrgyzstan bloggers

Pages 161-174 | Received 19 Mar 2016, Accepted 02 Mar 2018, Published online: 02 Oct 2018
 

Abstract

Results of a survey of student bloggers in the former Soviet Bloc nation of Kyrgyzstan (N = 132) showed that their offline political engagement had a positive relationship with their online political voice. Specifically, those bloggers who attended political meetings or had contacted a politician or civil servant offline were more likely to express their political thoughts on their blog. Results also showed that those who paid the most attention to political and public affairs reports in newspapers, blogged more frequently, and those who blogged more frequently, exhibited greater expression of political voice through their blogs. In addition, media attentiveness showed an indirect effect on online political voice, mediated through blogging frequency. Results are discussed in relation to social capital theory and implications for political expression in this country where speaking out remains constrained are explored.

Acknowledgements

This research was part of the first author’s doctoral dissertation. The first author thanks his advisor, Dr. Mary L. Sheffer, and his committee members, Dr. Fei Xue, Dr. Vanessa D. Murphree, Dr. Ann M. Kinnell, and Dr. James T. Johnson, for their valuable suggestions on an earlier version of this work.

Note

Notes

1 Dr. Bermet Tursunkulova was the Deputy Minister of Education of Kyrgyz Republic. She has now moved to another position

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Open Society Foundation Civil Society Scholar Awards program and financial support was also received from Arthur J. Kaul Memorial Fellowship of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi (USA).

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