Political Culture on the National Web: The Role of Political Culture in Online Political Activity and the Case of Hungarian Politics on Facebook
Summary
The
emerging
field
of
national
web
studies
aims
to
offer
new
perspectives
on
studying
the
internet:
it
calls
for
framing
the
internet
not
as
a
global
and
virtual
entity
but
one
which
comprises
multiple
heterogeneous
layers
embedded
in
social
contexts.
The
national web
as
an
object
of
study
describes
layers
of
this
sort,
focusing
on
web
spaces
that
are
demarcated
by
national
lines.
In
this
thesis,
I
propose
an
approach
to
analyse
national
webs
as
well
as
demonstrate
this approach’s
usefulness.
I
argue
that
national
identity
and
other
political
beliefs
and
values
have
a
considerable
impact
on
the
formation
and
workings
of
the
national
web,
and
therefore
the
political
culture
approach
can
be
a
great
asset
in
investigating
political
activity
online.
After
conceptualizing
the
role
of
political
culture
in
the
national
web
as
well
as
the
influence
of
the
internet
on
different
political
beliefs,
I
show
how
Hungarian
political
culture
in
particular
shapes
and
is
shaped
by
political
activity
on
Facebook.