Can microblogs motivate involvement in civic and political life? Examining uses, gratifications and social outcomes among Chinese youth

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the Chinese microblog users’ psychological motivations and the association between users’ motivations and their offline civic and political engagement. Specifically, this study examines what the psychological impetuses of Weibo use are and how they promote the young citizens’ civic and political involvement. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through the web-based survey with a total sample of 426 people. Principal components factor analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical multiple regressions were sequentially carried out to address the research questions. Findings The findings reveal that there are four major motives for using Weibo: information, socializing, recognition seeking and entertainment. Interestingly, seeking social needs is positively and significantly related to increasing young people’s civic participation, but not political participation. Research limitations/implications Theoretically, the research demonstrates that the uses and gratifications is a suitable approach for analysis of psychological antecedents of Weibo use and subsequent outcomes. Practically, it will help understand the dynamics of how the new media technology may engender democratic development and change. Originality/value Although the growing significance of social media has drawn considerable attention, little research has been conducted to assess the political consequences of Weibo. The current study fills the void by investigating whether Weibo functions as an effective tool to facilitate democratic engagement in contemporary China. The obtained results may provide insight into the relationship between the gratification structures and engagement in other social settings.