The emergence and development of digital civic participation is an inevitable consequence of Internet penetration into various spheres of life. Despite the novelty of the phenomenon itself, the practices of online activism have become engrained in public life; and they have a significant impact on certain events, and sometimes even act as the main trigger of subsequent changes, which is especially typical of the political system. At the same time, there are many concerns related to the spread of digital civics, so that it is very difficult to talk about the long-term implications of such transformations. In this regard, the purpose of our research is to summarize the experience of studying digital civic participation and highlight the features of its manifestation in a modern world. The research methodology is based on the principles of making a systematic scientific review. During the analysis, we identify essential foundations and distinctive features of online activism compared to the traditional offline format, which are reflected in the forms of manifestation, methods of attracting and composition of the participants themselves, as well as the conditions necessary for collective action. The scope of digital civic participation is largely ensured by the ease of entry into public affairs, and the variability of activities and types of networking. Despite the prevalence of the thesis about the purely external visibility of online activism and its destructive consequences, specific empirical studies do not confirm this conclusion. Nevertheless, the threats of the spread of ICT are quite real and go far beyond the virtual space. In conclusion, we formulate several polemic provisions on possible ways to overcome the contradictions in this area. Our research contributes to the development of scientific ideas about the specifics of digital civic participation and the disclosure of the potential of its application from the standpoint of modern challenges and threats
Keywords
civic participation, digitalization, social media, digital civic participation, online activism, digital activism, slacktivism