… Pew has fond that more people engage with issue groups online than political officials, and there are several examples of social media campaigns – the Red Equal Sign campaign and the ALS Ice Bucket challenge most notably – where issue-based activism has occurred. Working with colleagues Ashley Anderson, John Kotcher, and Edward Maibach from the George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication, we examined how issue-specific activism on the issue of climate change and energy policy may differ in terms of who (among Republicans) is performing such activism and what the implications are for issue-specific opinion leadership (i.e., believing you have expertise and influence over others on the issue) and efficacy (i.e., believing that your opinion can make a difference politically), as compared with more generalized forms of political expression and information consumption via Facebook. CONT.
Emily Vraga, George Mason U.