
Media Participation in Midterm Elections: Creative and Consumptive Influences on Political Engagement
Building upon the media participation hypothesis, this study examines the relationship between creative and consumptive media use during two pivotal midterm elections in the U.S.A series of regression analyses utilizing original, nationally representative data from 2014 and 2018 were modeled across dimensions of campaign participation, crossover political talk, and political system efficacy. Overall, support is found for increased creative media activity in comparison to more passive consumption in predicting political engagement. The results introduce additional nuance to the media participation literature while contextualizing the evolving nature of the uses made of interactive media for civic purposes.