From this week’s readings on political and civil engagement as related to new media seemed to solidify my own expanding theory that social networking sites do not change our opinions, but they do give us an opportunity to turn up the volume on our projected thoughts. Also not shocking were the facts as they relate to age of those taking advantage of new media to seek out information on politics, with those under 30 taking the most advantage of online video use (Smith, 2009). Shocking, right? What was a little surprising to me was the statistic listed in United We Stand, also quoted from Smith, that four in ten of those over 65 watched political videos online (2009). My best guess is that those individuals are taking more advantage of technology and political involvement because they are more than likely no longer in the work force and have the time to devote to seeking out that type of information in an election year. However, I did still find it eye opening because, admittedly, I assumed that more of those individuals would be on the other side of the digital divide. I think it would be worth more study to see if those 50 and over increase or decrease their SNS use and skills when they retire.

So is it simply that the low cost of information finding on the internet is getting us more engaged in politics and community? Although I do believe that we possess more information about our community and politics as a result of low cost information finding, that doesn’t seem to be the deciding factor in the translation of information exposure to engagement. Most notably, the suggestion made by Campbell & Kwak that personalization of content is “leading to increased trust in others and civic mindedness” is significant because it proposes that as we tweak what content we want streamed to our devices, the more engaged we will become(2010). I don’t think this will lead to a significant increase in voting or volunteerism, but it is significant that as we weed out content we do not wish to be exposed to, we become more entrenched in our ideology and more engaged in supporting those causes.