The Digitally Literate Citizen: How Digital Literacy Empowers Mass Participation in the United States

Do people with more technology skills also participate more in political and civic life? The author explores this question within by exploring relationships between the level of digital literacy among the public and their participation behaviors. Using a nationally representative survey and new measures for assessing the strength of digital literacy among the public, author finds that a person who is more digitally skilled will be more inclined for certain types of participation, including political participation and socialization with friends and family. Jeremy Riel is a researcher of technology and education and a higher education consultant. As a tech geek and regular tinkerer with gadgets and computers, he researches how technology can improve education and how the instruction of technology skills can help people succeed in career and life. This text is a printed version of the Masters Thesis completed at Georgetown University in April, 2012 under the same name. www.jeremyriel.com