LE3 .A278 2014

2014

Brickner, Rachel

Acadia University

Master of Arts

Masters

Political Science

Politics

With nearly half of the Canadian population logging onto Facebook daily it is unsurprising that academics and journalists have taken to focus on the effects of this website. Moreover, whereas we know of Canadians‟ proclivity for Facebook it is yet to be discerned how the website is being used. Here we are focused on the specific question of “to what extent is Facebook being used as a political tool by Canadian students?” Building on the work of Manuel Castells this project argues that Facebook represents what I call the “dual network”: one network that interacts with power in order to fulfill dual motivations. Through primary research data it is shown that Facebook offers these Canadian students a variety of ways to become engaged in politics, ranging from passive information gathering to active contention.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:376