Introduction & Background Over the last two decades, the digital revolution has led to an explosion of new data sources commonly referred to as digital footprint or trace data (DTD). This rapid expansion in digital data sources has pushed survey research into a new era of development that now centres on its linkage with various participant DTD. This culture shift has unlocked a range of novel opportunities for social scientists to access rich new sources of insight into human behaviour which can be used to augment, validate or even replace conventional self-reported survey data. However, when it comes to making such data open access, there remains a critical gap about maintaining respondent anonymity when it comes to openly releasing DTD. Objectives & Approach This paper will focus on demonstrating the conceptual and methodological value and challenges in producing anonymised and standardised variables from survey respondents’ digital trace data (DTD). We will do this using existing YouGov datasets collected over two time periods in the US 2020 and 2024, and a third collected in the UK 2022. The US datasets link individual survey responses to their Twitter/X feeds and the UK to their browsing history. All three datasets were designed to address research questions about the effects of digital media consumption and exposure on citizen attitudes and behaviours. This paper aims to establish a standardised and automated process for variable generation which is replicable and can produce anonymised variables from the DTD which can be safely linked to respondent survey data and openly shared with the wider research community. Relevance to Digital Footprints The aim of this work is to encourage other researchers working with digital footprint data to consider the ethical and legal implications they face when looking to make their DTD open access. Our work aims to resolve the conflict between open access and data protection, bridging the gap by establishing a process for deriving anonymous unit-level variables which can be released in lieu of the raw DTD. While not designed to be an entirely prescriptive method, this paper strives to inform strategies for making DTD open access and to start the process of creating better standardised practices within the discipline. Conclusions & Implications While this paper is still a work in progress, work is underway for variable generation and will result in the creation and release of a standardised procedure for the anonymisation of DTD. These variables will be created for two specific types of DTD: social media and web-browsing data. However, these variables will be translatable to various other types of DTD and this paper will be accompanied by step-by-step code and codebook which can be used by other researchers. This paper will have significant ethical and methodological implications for how researchers working with DTD make their data open access and will hopefully improve transparency and collaboration within the discipline.

En esta nota de investigación se presentan los primeros datos en España sobre los usos políticos de Internet, que incluyen consumo de información política, recepción de estímulos movilizadores a través de Internet y participación política online. Se exploran los datos describiendo los diferentes indicadores y se comprueba en qué medida la esfera online reproduce o no los mismos modos de participación que tradicionalmente se han distinguido. Los resultados apuntan a que la participación online se distingue como un modo independiente, mientras que al mismo tiempo puede complementar algunos modos de participación offline como el contacto.

The effectiveness of approaches to bot detection varies, with real-time detection being almost impossible. As a result, this article argues that the general Twitter using public cannot be expected to judge which accounts are bots with certainty and therefore do not know to what extent they are being manipulated online. In this article, the challenge of detecting bots and fake accounts is demonstrated by constructing two distinct methods to bot detection. The first method takes a fixed criteria-based approach, by building on commonly cited identifiers for bots. The second method takes a more flexible, investigative approach in order to uncover bots involved in coordinated efforts to influence online debates. As well as profiling the specific mechanics of how each one operates, we argue that they can be compared against an evaluative framework that specifies a set of key criteria that bot detection methods should meet in order to perform. Here, we identify four key criteria on which these methods can be evaluated and then examine how they perform in terms of the key criteria of accuracy. The results of these methods are then compared and cross-checked against an existing and widely used bot detection service. The findings show that different bot detection methods can present significantly different results and that only confirmation from Twitter, through suspensions or announcements, can truly allow users to know whether an account is a bot or not. We argue that this development could have a significant effect on the level of trust that social media users have both in the information they receive through social media and also in the political process.

The study of e-participation is a young and growing discipline in which controversies are vibrant. One of these is the lack of a widely accepted definition of “e-participation.” Online political activities that involve little effort from the participant, such as liking or sharing political content on social media, are particularly divisive. Some scholars are reluctant to label expressive forms of online behavior as political participation. Others argue in favor of an adaptation of previous definitions to accommodate recent technological changes. Levels of engagement in different types of e-participation are increasing steadily over time. While differences between democracies are often stark, the upward trend has been consistent, especially since the emergence and expansion of social media. Whether this means that previously unengaged individuals are now taking part is one of the central questions of the literature on e-participation. To date, research has shown positive but modest results in support for a mobilizing effect. Particularly promising are findings suggesting that online tools are attracting younger participants to the political arena. Online forms of political engagement are often placed in a more general process leading to online and offline political participation. “Lean-forward” models that provide a contextualized understanding of the drivers and effects of e-participation are particularly insightful. In order to provide robustness to some of the questions that remain unresolved, scholars exploring e-participation should consider expanding their methodological repertoires. The trend is toward mixed designs that combine surveys and other forms of data (big data collected from social media or qualitative data).

Recent studies have shown that online participation is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that replicates and extends existing forms of political engagement. What is less clear is the mobilizing potential of these different types of activity and particularly whether they trigger offline participation. This paper addresses these questions in an analysis of citizens online and offline behaviour in the context of a UK General Election. Specifically we identify three different modes of online engagement in the campaign, profile the individuals most likely to engage in them, and examine whether they affected individuals’ likelihood of voting. Our findings show that while newer social media based ‘e-expressive’ activities are most likely to appeal to those individuals who are not already engaged in politics they do not necessarily increase the likelihood of voting. By contrast higher consumption of news and information online during an election does appear to significantly boost individuals’ chances of turning out to vote.

Wireless sensor networks have become incredibly popular due to the Internet of Things' (IoT) rapid development.IoT routing is the basis for the efficient operation of the perception-layer network.As a popular type of machine learning, reinforcement learning techniques have gained significant attention due to their successful application in the field of network communication.In the traditional Routing Protocol for lowpower and Lossy Networks (RPL) protocol, to solve the fairness of control message transmission between IoT terminals, a fair broadcast suppression mechanism, or Drizzle algorithm, is usually used, but the Drizzle algorithm cannot allocate priority.Moreover, the Drizzle algorithm keeps changing its redundant constant k value but never converges to the optimal value of k.To address this problem, this paper uses a combination based on reinforcement learning (RL) and trickle timer.This paper proposes an RL Intelligent Adaptive Trickle-Timer Algorithm (RLATT) for routing optimization of the IoT awareness layer.RLATT has triple-optimized the trickle timer algorithm.To verify the algorithm's effectiveness, the simulation is carried out on Contiki operating system and compared with the standard trickling timer and Drizzle algorithm.Experiments show that the proposed algorithm performs better in terms of packet delivery ratio (PDR), power consumption, network convergence time, and total control cost ratio.

This article: Confirms that e-participation is multi-dimensional with prior modes of participation emerging online. Shows that these online activities have mobilising effects and that this relationship appears to work largely in a step-wise or ‘spill-over’ manner. Demonstrates that accessing online news and information acts as a ‘gateway’ or first step into participation. Argues that the more active modes of online participation do not appear to exert any mobilising effects on other types of post-election engagement. Shows that the dynamics of Internet participation are more complex than the ‘one size fits all’ approach that dominates the current literature. In this study we test whether a range of online political activities undertaken during the campaign affect the propensity to engage in non-electoral types of online and offline political engagement subsequently. We develop three hypotheses accounting for this linkage based on a ‘spill-over’ logic about (1) the effort required for the action; (2) the type of activity undertaken (formal versus informal); and (3) the medium on which the action occurs (online or offline). We test our hypotheses with a pre/post-election panel dataset from the UK 2010 General Election. The results show that after controlling for prior political engagement, online information seeking during the campaign has a significant and positive effect on further engagement in ‘softer’ discussion modes of participation. The findings are seen to confirm that Internet-based political mobilisation works in a ‘step-wise’ manner whereby lower intensity activities spill-over to move individuals a little further up the participation ladder.

This special issue arose from a collaboration between researchers at the University of Manchester and Duke University that was funded by the Economic Social and Research Council [ES/J019453/1]. The project sought to examine the nature of voter contact in the digital age in comparative context. In particular we were interested to understand the extent to which parties and candidates were seeking to mobilise voters during national election campaigns in the US and UK using new communication channels such as email, sms/text messages, and social media. After benchmarking the use of these tactics in national campaigns we also wanted to address the 64 million dollar question of whether these methods actually worked. Does online contact actually increase the likelihood that someone will turn out to vote? And if so, how effective is it in comparison with other more conventional methods? Our interest in researching these questions was triggered by the general growth in use of these tools across both countries and particularly the high profile e-campaign of Barack Obama to reach the White House in 2008. In the course of conducting our research on the effects of new forms of voter contact we faced some immediate questions about the extent to which internet-based methods can be meaningfully compared with more traditional offline modes. Given the rapid proliferation in the types of online communication channels now available, how far can a simple binary division into online and offline channels really capture this new complexity? How do we take account of the increasingly complex and indirect web of connections through which parties’ online messages can be conveyed and also the extent to which parties themselves can control this? While email is perhaps the closest approximation to the more conventional ‘surgical’ methods that parties use such as direct mail and phone calls, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are more than simply conduits for content but are themselves immersive new social spaces. The idea of the internet and particularly social media serving as a new context for mobilisation prompted us to think more generally about how far the field had moved and broadened both substantively and methodologically since the seminal work of Rosenstone and Hansen in the early 1990s. What new forces now impinge on voter contacting and how far do the old channels remain potent? In particular, how have advances in technology affected parties’ strategies and improved their capacity to target voters? What are some of the ‘new’ contextual factors that we might need to consider, particularly beyond expressly political and institutional channels? And finally what new methods are available to best capture this wider complexity of affective forces? To explore these questions we invited leading scholars within the field to reflect on the current and past state of voter mobilisation research as well as to provide us with some fresh empirical evidence about the relevance of context in shaping parties’ GOTV efforts. The papers gathered here represent the fruits of that effort and provide a rich insight into and update on the impact of a variety of technological, social, economic and political influences on parties’ GOTV efforts.

This article examines whether the Web and particularly a new breed of civic action sites operated by non-governmental actors provide a new pathway into wider community engagement. Using an innovative mixed methodology, we conduct a qualitative and quantitative over-time analysis of the users of four civic action sites developed by mySociety, an online UK non-profit organisation. The key question posed is whether the highly targeted or ‘particularised’ actions that these sites promote, such as contacting a local councillor, have a spill-over effect in terms of increasing feelings of empowerment in the local community. Alternatively are they attracting and reinforcing the resource bias of the most active citizens? The results are mixed in that they confirm that users of these sites are typically more aware and engaged than average. However, it is also clear that they have integrated these tools into their existing repertoire of engagement and this reinforces their feeling that they can have an impact on their wider communities. Overall, the study suggests that involvement in collective rather than individual approaches to resolve problems is most likely to further increase individuals’ levels community engagement.

As membership levels decline, parties are developing new forms of linkage with supporters, many of which rely on Internet technologies. To date, the discussion of these new modes of affiliation has been largely theoretical in nature, with little, if any, systematic empirical analysis undertaken on their appeal and impact on formal membership. This article seeks to fill this gap by examining the presence of three new types of digital affiliation—audience, friends, and digital activists—among the French electorate using original survey data from the 2012 Presidential election. Our findings are important in showing that while the new methods of affiliation are increasing parties' reach into society, they are not necessarily widening parties' socioeconomic support base. Furthermore, digital activism is mostly a supplementary channel for members' input although there are a smaller group of people engaging in these activities that avoid formal membership ties. Such results suggest that digital methods of affiliation might offer an important new resource to parties during campaigns.

This special issue arose from a collaboration between researchers at the University of Manchester and Duke University that was funded by the Economic Social and Research Council [ES/J019453/1]. The project sought to examine the nature of voter contact in the digital age in comparative context. In particular we were interested to understand the extent to which parties and candidates were seeking to mobilise voters during national election campaigns in the US and UK using new communication channels such as email, sms/text messages, and social media. After benchmarking the use of these tactics in national campaigns we also wanted to address the 64 million dollar question of whether these methods actually worked. Does online contact actually increase the likelihood that someone will turn out to vote? And if so, how effective is it in comparison with other more conventional methods? Our interest in researching these questions was triggered by the general growth in use of these tools across both countries and particularly the high profile e-campaign of Barack Obama to reach the White House in 2008. In the course of conducting our research on the effects of new forms of voter contact we faced some immediate questions about the extent to which internet-based methods can be meaningfully compared with more traditional offline modes. Given the rapid proliferation in the types of online communication channels now available, how far can a simple binary division into online and offline channels really capture this new complexity? How do we take account of the increasingly complex and indirect web of connections through which parties’ online messages can be conveyed and also the extent to which parties themselves can control this? While email is perhaps the closest approximation to the more conventional ‘surgical’ methods that parties use such as direct mail and phone calls, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are more than simply conduits for content but are themselves immersive new social spaces. The idea of the internet and particularly social media serving as a new context for mobilisation prompted us to think more generally about how far the field had moved and broadened both substantively and methodologically since the seminal work of Rosenstone and Hansen in the early 1990s. What new forces now impinge on voter contacting and how far do the old channels remain potent? In particular, how have advances in technology affected parties’ strategies and improved their capacity to target voters? What are some of the ‘new’ contextual factors that we might need to consider, particularly beyond expressly political and institutional channels? And finally what new methods are available to best capture this wider complexity of affective forces? To explore these questions we invited leading scholars within the field to reflect on the current and past state of voter mobilisation research as well as to provide us with some fresh empirical evidence about the relevance of context in shaping parties’ GOTV efforts. The papers gathered here represent the fruits of that effort and provide a rich insight into and update on the impact of a variety of technological, social, economic and political influences on parties’ GOTV efforts.

This paper compares the spread and impact of new digital modes of voter mobilization with more traditional methods (phone, mail and in person canvassing) in recent national elections in the US and UK. We develop hypotheses regarding the relative effects of online contacting and test them using election study data. Our findings show that while online contact is generally less frequent than the offline form in both countries, this gap is particularly pronounced in the UK. US campaigns also reach a much wider audience than their UK counterparts. In terms of impact, while offline forms remain most effective in mobilizing turnout, online messages are important for campaign participation, particularly among younger citizens when they are mediated through social networks.

This reports explores some of the political consequences of digital inequalities in Spain. Using survey data the study presents an analysis of the digital gap and its evolution between 2001 and 2013. Results then show that individuals who have higher levels of digital skills are more likely to engage politically both online and offline. The report concludes with a mixed message: while the the digital gap does not tend to disappear over time, levels of digital skills are increasing among all groups. Traditionally disadvantaged groups are increasingly accessing new online resources that are associated with political engagement.

Political interest is a potentially important moderator of the relationship between digital media use and traditional forms of political participation. We theorize that the interaction between interest and digital media can be either positive or negative, depending on whether the action is voting, an elite-directed act, or a self-directed act. To test our expectation, we use British Election Studies data from 2001, 2005, and 2010. We find that digital media use is positively and consistently associated with political talk for those lower in political interest. For voting, we find a similar relationship that appears to be strengthening over time. For the elite-directed acts of donating money and working for a party, we find a highly variable moderating effect of political interest that can be positive, negative, or nonexistent.

In light of the growing importance of web-based data in the social and behavioral sciences, WEBDATANET was established in 2011 as a COST Action (IS 1004) to create a multidisciplinary network of web-based data collection experts: (web) survey methodologists, psychologists, sociologists, linguists, economists, Internet scientists, media and public opinion researchers. The aim was to accumulate and synthesize knowledge regarding methodological issues of web-based data collection (surveys, experiments, tests, non-reactive data, and mobile Internet research), and foster its scientific usage in a broader community.

Parties have made increasing use of the new digital communication technology to interact with their voters and also their members and supporters. While the former external relationship has received extensive attention, internal organizational uses are less well documented. This paper seeks to fill this gap by examining the impact of the internet and particularly newer social media technologies on the nature of membership and affiliation among French parties. Using the conceptual framework of Scarrow (2014) we examine and expand on the two main categories of membership she identifies as emerging in the digital age - followers and cyber-members. Our core purpose is three-fold. First we aim to try to develop measures of these new categories of affiliation and provide a sense of how widely practiced they are? Second we want to know who these individuals are in terms of their socio-demographic and activist profile. Finally we want to explore their implications for party organizations and whether they are ultimately weakening or strengthening them? Perhaps these new forms widen party support in the electorate by drawing in those that might otherwise not have become involved? In addition they may also help to deepen levels of involvement in the party among activists? Alternatively they may simply create a new layer of 'thin' ties and an easier but less committed source of support. We examine these questions using a range of data sources. Specifically we use two surveys - the 2012 French National Election Study and an online survey (webinpolitics.com) conducted by the author during the 2012 election of online party activists. Through the combination of these sources we build a picture of how French parties are integrating internet tools into their organizational dynamics, and draw more general conclusions about the future of party membership in the digital age.