Power users in online democracy: their origins and impact. Issue 13 (9th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bright, Jonathan; Bermudez, Sandra; Pilet, Jean-Benoit; Soubiran, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Information, communication & society. Volume 23:Issue 13(2020)
• Page Start: 1838
• Page End: 1853
• Publication Date: 2020-11-09
• Subjects: e-democracy -- e-petitions -- power users; Information technology -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Information technology -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; Information technology -- Political aspects -- Periodicals; Internet -- Periodicals; World Wide Web -- Periodicals; 303.4833
• DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1621920
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1369-118X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: One well-known characteristic of participatory websites is that the distribution of contribution levels is highly skewed: most people who make use of the service contribute only a little, but a small minority, often known as 'power users', contribute a lot. These power users are understudied in the literature on online democratic participation: this article aims to fill this gap. Based on a unique observational dataset of hundreds of thousands of users of an electronic petitioning platform, we show that having more free time is an important determinant of becoming a power user, as is having a positive initial experience with the site. We also show that power users are both more effective than regular users and that their interests differ substantially from 'normal' users: meaning that these small groups have a powerful (and distorting) influence on overall outcomes for the site.