eParticipation for Supporting Societal Participation Self-efficacy and Lowering the Thresholds of Societal Participation: Case Virtual Council. (Extended abstract)

While eParticipation platforms have been developed extensively, there is a lack of insight into how they support societal participation. People's beliefs in their capabilities are a relevant component in human action, also affecting the motivation to participate. In this paper, we report the results of a study on the possibilities of an eParticipation platform to a) enhance the users’ self-efficacy in the context of societal participation, and b) lower the threshold of societal participation. Altogether, 34 young people from various backgrounds participated in Virtual Council field tests to collaborate on the Climate Change Act in Finland. The results suggest that eParticipation platforms can enhance the societal participation self-efficacy of youths that initially have less experience participating in societal issues. Furthermore, the threshold of participation can be lowered after using the eParticipation platform. The paper adds to the growing discussion on connections between youths use of digital services and societal participation.