title: Scaling-Up Youth-Led Social Justice Efforts through an Online School-Based Social Network.
abstract: The exploration of social networking sites (SNS) in promoting social change efforts offers great potential within the field of community psychology. Online communities on SNS provide opportunities for bridging across groups, thus fostering the exchange of novel ideas and practices. Currently, there have only been limited efforts to examine SNS within the context of youth-led efforts. To explore the potential of SNS to facilitate the diffusion of social justice efforts between distinct youth groups, we linked three school-based youth-led participatory action research projects involving 54 high school students through a SNS. This study offers an innovative methodological approach and framework, utilizing social network analysis and strategic sampling of key student informants to investigate what individual behaviors and online network features predict student adoption of social change efforts. Findings highlight prospective facilitators and barriers to diffusion processes within a youth-led online network, as well as key constructs that may inform future research. We conclude by providing suggestions for scholars and practitioners interested in examining how SNS can be used to enhance the diffusion of social justice strategies, youth-led engagement efforts, and large-scale civic organizing.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA, USA. mkornbluh@csuchico.edu.
authors.forename: Mariah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kornbluh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer Watling
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Emily J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ozer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California; D003142:Communication; D003256:Community Participation; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011593:Psychology, Social; D012574:Schools; D012922:Social Change; D012932:Social Facilitation; D012935:Social Justice; D060756:Social Networking; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Diffusion; Social network analysis; Social networking sites; Youth participatory action research