Criteria and factors of digital activism effectiveness: expert assessments

Abramova Sof'ya Borisovna ORCID: 0000-0003-4010-8406 PhD in Sociology Associate professor, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin 620083, Russia, Sverdlovsk region, Yekaterinburg, Lenin str., 51, office 328 sofia_abramova@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction. Digital participation has actively entered the life of a modern person. Participatory practices are developing in the educational, managerial, political, and urban planning spheres. Researchers from different countries pay attention to the issues of accessibility and effectiveness of new technologies – from the use of digital applications to digital games on urban planning ^[17]. The problems of scientific discussions unfold on the issues of changes under the influence of digitalization of the intensity of citizen participation, improving public understanding and increasing attention to social problems, changes in communication technologies of interaction between government and society and the expected consequences of these transformations ^[15]. The pandemic had a significant impact on the growth of the use of digital technologies: researchers point out that this contributed to the maximum involvement of the population and, above all, young people in digital practices, gave rise to experimentation of young people with new platforms, digital citizenship and digital identities ^[12].

The task of evaluating the effectiveness of digital civic activism can be presented through the allocation of three consecutive logical subtasks: determining the effectiveness of social processes, the effectiveness of civic initiatives and the effectiveness of online forms of activism.

Speaking about efficiency as a key concept in any social activity, traditionally the emphasis is placed on economic efficiency, which manifests itself depending on the resources spent – effects (benefits). This approach brings the concept of efficiency closer to efficiency, the achievement of a useful result of activity in the presence of limited resources. However, there is a need for quantitative measurement of results, which leads to the allocation of narrower performance criteria (effectiveness of personnel policy, staff training, advertising campaign, etc.) ^[8], or to the introduction of additional performance indicators (monetary – profitability, temporary – duration of existence or compliance with deadlines, etc.).

Such economic efficiency must be supplemented with social efficiency, which takes into account the legality of decisions and actions, the impact on the development of social facilities, the impact on the needs and interests of people, the availability of feedback, the credibility of management decisions, the truthfulness of information transmitted to the participants in the process and a number of others. ^[7] Socially oriented projects may have an expanded understanding of effectiveness: as the achievement of the set goals, as the ability to provide the necessary resources for long-term and sustainable development, as the satisfaction of the participants in the process and as compliance with the standard, world practice or other chosen standard ^[6]. Here it is necessary to talk about efficiency, on the one hand, as an indicator of the organization of the internal activity of the subject-initiator of social projects, and on the other – about external efficiency in the form of social effects. Social effects indicate a wide range of non-economic results that affect the well-being of people and the environment ^[13], and are the result of both explicit and latent functions of the activities of NGOs, social entrepreneurs, social movements and civil activists. Methodological complexity and the absence of established scientific traditions of studying social effects determine the limited research experience in this direction ^[3].

The analysis of the discussion field of the problems of the effectiveness of civil / public activity allows us to specify the indicators and identify several main contexts of consideration: effectiveness as the level of civic engagement and reflection of the degree of involvement of citizens in public actions; as the level of mobilization potential; as the effectiveness of the dialogue between the authorities and society; as the effectiveness of tools / mechanisms / forms of civic engagement; as the effectiveness of the process of formation of civic activity in the population ^[1].

In turn, evaluating the effectiveness of digital participation practices involves taking into account the advantages and disadvantages inherent in online communication in general, as well as digital forms of activism. Thus, the researchers point out that online tools are rather a mechanism for increasing the effectiveness of a number of indicators of activism, while public activity itself unfolds mainly in the offline space ^[2]. At the same time, as N. V. Nyatina and colleagues note, the activity of citizens is included in everyday, routine practices, and the mobilization of their participation with the help of digital technologies becomes easier, faster, more reactive ^[5].

The task of studying the effectiveness of digital activism faces difficulties in determining both the indicators themselves and collecting data for their measurement/evaluation. We can talk about the insufficiency of examples of assessments that could act as a standard / methodological framework, about the subjective variation in the use and analysis of performance indicators, about the absence or unavailability of data on the number of users, project results, the scale and magnitude of the social effect, etc. All these problems determined the purpose of the study – to identify criteria for the effectiveness of digital participation, and there are also factors hindering the effective implementation of online activism.

Research methodology. The basis of the article is the author's research conducted in May-July 2023, in the form of a series of 32 in-depth interviews with experts involved in the process of digital participation of young people. As experts, 16 informants in the field of digitalization, representatives of structures that ensure citizens' interaction with authorities and local self-government, university professors, political scientists, representatives of youth trends of political parties (representing the "top-down" model of change), as well as 16 experts representing the "bottom-up" model of change: civil activists in in various fields (sports, youth festivals, education, etc.), representatives of youth organizations and movements, activists of civic platforms on the Internet. The territorial coverage of the sample of experts includes 4 experts from 8 federal districts of the Russian Federation: North Caucasus (NCFD), Northwestern (NWFD), Central (CFD), Southern (SFD), Siberian (SFD), Ural (Ural Federal District), Far Eastern (Far Eastern Federal District), Volga (Volga Federal District). All interviews and quotes based on them are confidential. As an additional method, a case analysis of 4 crowdsourcing platforms was used to solve urgent social problems: Russian Public Initiative, Public Services. We decide together, Democrat, Change.org .

The main results. Based on the results of the study, a typology of indicators was carried out by which experts judge the effectiveness of projects in which they participate or included in the sphere of their professional attention and interests. In the course of typologization, both the types of effectiveness criteria considered in the theoretical review (with a more detailed and specialized justification for digital activism) and the author's types identified during the analysis of expert interviews are highlighted.

Efficiency as effectiveness

Firstly, in a fairly traditional sense, we are talking about achieving goals through influencing the decisions of the authorities and other participants in the discussion of the problem.

That is, a certain success of the activity, they were able to influence something (CFD, m,31).

I consider successful those that bring results, and they bring it, because if you take for example some petitions, they do not bring results most often, at least in Russia they cannot be called successful (NWFD, w,29).

Experts also repeatedly emphasize the idea of the transition of the digital space, in which the main stage of digital projects is unfolding, into a real space in which the social effect is manifested: "and Internet activism, but offline impact." Hence, the indicators of online audience, likes, reposts cannot act as a reliable criterion of performance.

So that these projects can really have a super real impact and so that it does not happen that a budget organization simply forces its employees to vote on certain sites.(CFD, m,24).

You really need to look at efficiency on business already, not according to some statistics of coverage there or the audience, because we know that the audience can be caught up or somehow lured. You need to look at the end result of what this audience was able to do and what this platform was able to do (NWFD,m,23).

Secondly, there is an indicator of minimizing the costs of achieving the result – financial, time, transport and others. It has a twofold manifestation. On the one hand, this is one of the key advantages of digital activism, inherent in it due to the use of digital technologies.

It's not difficult to throw off a photo, it's something minimal that does not require any energy, mental costs, they calmly throw off photos or write comments (PrFO, w, 24).

On the other hand, its successful implementation is determined by a number of conditions. Firstly, the digital platforms used must support and provide technical capabilities in terms of processing speed, feedback, etc.

When you can apply online, it's very convenient. Than when I wrote letters to different authorities, and no one answers. And everything is clear and fast on the portal, you can take a picture, send it to an Active citizen, and your request will be processed immediately, this is of course cool and cool (CFR, w,28).

Secondly, the organizers of the project should, for their part, be actively involved in digital communication, initiate and accompany it.

A successful example is that with the help of publications on social networks, we always promptly find volunteers for all events, keep in close contact with volunteers from other regions, encourage young people to become volunteers. Without online, it would be much more difficult to do this (Ural Federal District, zh.25).

Thirdly, the population itself should be positively disposed towards digital practices of civic participation, have the appropriate knowledge and skills.

Submit it in a convenient form – in the form of a survey, in the form there like / dislike, like / dislike. In the feedback form, that is, you can comment and respond to comments there, if you don't understand something, ask and they will explain it to you. As if this is a very convenient form and in our time is probably the most popular (Ural Federal District, w, 45).

Finally, a wide coverage of institutions and government structures should be provided with forms of digital circulation. A citizen should not waste time not only on the use of the resource itself, but also on its search or development.

In fact, digital activism can really influence and really change the world, that is, now it is possible to write to all platforms, to all municipal and state institutions in a chat, in support, and your appeal will definitely be heard, it will reach the addressee, that is, it is not necessary to call someone, etc. (PrFO, w,28).

In order to expand the consideration of effectiveness in the context of effectiveness, an analysis of four platforms for the nomination and voting for civil initiatives was carried out.

Russian Public Initiative" (ROI, https://www.roi.ru /) is an Internet resource created pursuant to Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 183 of March 4, 2013 "On Consideration of Public Initiatives Sent by Citizens of the Russian Federation using the Internet resource "Russian Public Initiative". At the time of the study, 21692 (since 2013) were indicated, 40 projects were placed in the "Decision made" section, of which 19 were with a positive decision (0.087% of the total number of initiatives). At the same time, for 2022 – 1 adopted decision, for 2021 – 2 initiatives with a decision. The latest news was published on September 28, 2021. The official Vkontakte page has 19884 subscribers (which can be regarded as a fairly low level of popularity for a federal resource with a 10-year history), active content is supported.

Democrator is a universal platform for open interaction between citizens, political parties, public authorities and local self-government, public and charitable organizations (the Democrator Foundation, https://democrator.ru /). There are 15,074 petitions (since 2009), 952 petitions have been successful (6.3%), 300,000 decisions appealed in courts, 3.9 million votes submitted for petitions, 4 million monthly visitors to the site, 2.2 million subscribers. 36 publications (0.24% of the total number) are posted in the "Victories" section. 11919 Vkontakte subscribers, the page has no relevant content since 2020.

Portal of Public services "We decide together" (https://pos.gosuslugi.ru/landing /) allows you to submit individual requests and complaints. Information was posted about 13,227,638 responses to citizens' requests, 192,691 actual requests for work, 5.9 million people participated in the surveys. The platform does not contain data on the effectiveness of appeals.

Change.org – an international online platform for posting petitions (https://www.change.org /). The Russian-language website (in Russia since 2012) contains data worldwide: 521.2 million users, 91,130 wins in 196 countries. A report for 2018 has been posted, according to which: there are 14.3 million registered users in Russia, about 25,000 petitions are submitted every month in the world, one of these petitions wins every hour (360 petitions per month, 1.44% of the total number). Petitions with a positive decision are marked with a special icon for visualization, 4 examples of "bright victories" are carried out in the "Successes" section. There are 33693 subscribers in Vkontakte, the site has not been active since 2022.

Thus, the analysis of the above cases allows us to conclude that there is insufficient open data and content content to objectively assess the effectiveness of petitions and appeals, platforms do not pay enough attention to this, do not post reports, etc. According to the data provided, we can talk about the effectiveness in the range of 0.1-6.3% of the petitions submitted. Official websites are the main platform, social networks are used as an additional resource, Vkontakte pages for 3 out of 4 platforms are currently not maintained.

Part of the data obtained on the platforms also allows us to judge the following performance indicators related to coverage and involvement of the population.

Efficiency as a level of activity and involvement of citizens

Many experts mention the growth of indicators related to the involvement of the population in digital activism as criteria of effectiveness. It is digital technologies that provide a rapid increase in the number of people involved in a short time.

We all know successful such platforms, once there was only an idea, and then it outgrows, people open some channels on which they broadcast, share their thoughts, and it becomes so global.. who had about a hundred subscribers there, and then a hundred thousand passed there (NWFD, m, 23).

The growth of those involved occurs both at the level of ordinary participants, as well as organizers, initiators of projects.

The number of people who are engaged in this field is increasing. And not even those who are engaged, but just users, participants, that is, the audience is growing (NWFD, m, 23).

The level of involvement is also manifested in the number of responses, the reaction of citizens to information or appeals within the framework of civic initiatives. A vivid example is "Lisa Alert", where the number of one–time responses or situational reactions can increase dramatically, they post something there and people respond, big responses (NWFD, w,29).

In digital activism, the line between interest, attention and engagement is very thin – experts show how in some cases residents easily cross it, while in others they remain at the level of interest, but not participation.

One of the highlights is the vote on the improvement of territories where residents are really activated, they begin to vote actively (PrFO, w,28).

However, the very fact of attracting public attention to this problem is regarded by experts as an indicator of effectiveness.

The attention of the public to the construction of the overpass is very expensive, it was drawn by these activists... At least they managed to attract public attention and contribute to politicization to some extent (CFD, m, 31).

The task of making public, bringing the topic out of the zone hidden for discussion or inaccessible to most residents is perceived by informants as a manifestation of the effectiveness of digital activism.

We organized an online lecture on the problems of youth subcultures, many important areas were discussed, solutions were proposed. It is difficult to assess the effectiveness, but the problem has definitely received publicity, I hope there will be further movements (NCFD, w,22).

Finally, engagement is also defined as feedback from citizens, confirmation of the importance of the project topic. This gives confidence in the correctness of the choice of topics, which is simultaneously regarded as effective in the context of relevance, significance for residents – the project is not divorced from reality, "mundane".

It was a vote of real citizens living in our village who said, yes, we are really interested in this topic, that is, they left some of their own, even personal data. Young people sign up there, they see all our polls, they vote. Thus we get a real picture (UrFO, w, 45).

The most specific and narrow indicator of engagement is the formation of a core of activists, volunteers with both digital competencies and interest in digital activism.

This is free training for teams of youth and children's public organizations. As a result, a corps of digital student volunteers has been formed (PrFO, zh,52).

Efficiency as development: creativity and innovation

Here we can highlight several important contexts of the effectiveness of digital activism, noted by experts. First of all, the novelty and innovativeness of the ideas, scenarios, and mechanisms implemented in the project are highlighted.

Basically, they took place and were initiated by quite interesting scenarios for my region, when in fact all the activity was deployed and raised by not very popular activists, and they were able to organize a fairly large unusual campaign via the Internet, which lasted for several years (Far Eastern Federal District, m,28).

Further, an indicator of the growth of the scale and complexity of the tasks that can be solved with the help of digital participation is noted.

The event itself is held in a mixed format, but it was the long-term support in online chats that played a huge role, which contributed to the additional integration of disabled people into public life. This forum has shown that even with the help of online tools, it is possible to unite a lot of people and perform large-scale tasks. (NWFD, m,26).

It is also important to change the digital space itself, to improve it, to create modern websites, which is pushed by the development of activism itself and the interest of the population in it..

Our group (in the social network) of the municipal district looks very decent, I am pleased to enter it, it is modern. They make cool posts. This figure is very useful to the authorities, thus attracting the younger generation to the life of the municipality, civic activity (PrFO, zh, 24).

Finally, considering modern society as extremely dynamic, experts expect the same high rates of functioning and development within digital activism.

What is good about online is the speed of reaction, that is, this is required of us. Now the whole modern world requires a quick reaction to events. And in this case, online activity works very quickly, it works very effectively (UrFO, w, 45).

Social efficiency and social effects

One of the important manifestations of the effectiveness of digital participation, experts call the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and the educational effect of participation. At the same time, joint activities can enhance this effect: "a lot of young people, pumping skills and skills, a community of like-minded people" (PrFO, zh,52).

It's convenient, it's right, people have access to information, you can not buy a million textbooks, newspapers, but just register on the website and study the information (CFD, m,24).

Digital activism "invades" everyday practices, offers to change leisure and lifestyle.

They put it all on digital platforms, thereby agitating people and giving them the opportunity to spend their holidays actively and generally live, so to speak, in a sporty way. Organizes, of course, their leisure (SFO, m, 32).

Digital technologies make it possible to combine educational and patriotic projects with the solution of educational tasks in the field of information security.

Recently, the event has been held more and more often in an online format, because it is important for us to integrate teenagers into digital life, while showing how to use online formats safely and direct our activities to solving important, including socially significant tasks (NCFD, m,27).

One of the important social effects is the growth of recognition, visibility and popularity of civil activists and their initiatives in the media. In this case, experts talk about the media and recognition of digital activists, the regularity of coverage and the formation of sustained attention to their activities by the media.

They have achieved quite serious visibility in the media and presence in the media, they were visited, in principle they were already known, that is, I think this is a big plus that they managed to significantly unwind in a fairly short period of time (CFD, m, 31).

The presence of civic initiatives in digital format makes it easy to connect them with other social habits of residents, for example, to leave reviews, likes, comments in consumer activities or friendly communication.

They do this because they are used to writing reviews. For example, they order delivery and leave a review. People are used to reacting. Put all sorts of likes. This habit of giving feedback helps to become not indifferent, but to participate, albeit indirectly, and this is useful (NWFD, w,29).

An important social effect of digital participation is the provision of creative and initiative opportunities for certain groups of the population. At the societal level, researchers can point to special opportunities opening up for people from countries or social strata with strict censorship and rules, experiencing a high level of difficulties in offline practices ^[9]. At the level of specific projects, this can be a psychological release, an opportunity to express an opinion on unfavorable situations, or to speak out to shy people, introverts, etc.

Most likely, this is a discussion under the posts. Basically, it seems to me that people like to discuss negative topics, negative news, not positive ones (PrFO, w, 28).

The guys there are more introverted, they can manifest themselves in a social network differently than in real life. Of course, I'm not a psychologist, but for me this connection is still there, that when a teenage child is bright in social networks, but in the real world he can't show himself like that (PrFO, w, 24).

Effectiveness as a dialogue and development of social partnership

A fairly pronounced criterion for the effectiveness of digital projects is the development of social partnership. Here, experts talk about the intersection of the interests of public, state and commercial structures, the willingness to jointly promote initiatives and solve socially significant problems.

We have a bunch of all kinds of social partners, they also help us there, they post our surveys in their groups, this is very effective. We also help other institutions, that is, we all work as if in one bundle and culture, and sports, and youth (Ural Federal District, w, 45).

Many commercial organizations promoted it, from the series "leave a voice in support of any positions concerning natural complexes" (CFD, m,24).

A more expected, but less mentioned indicator by experts is cooperation with the authorities, the achievement of compromises, common solutions.

When civil society and the government are in some kind of balance, then it is effective, when the authorities see some kind of request that comes from citizens from the digital environment, that is, they learn to track it, then, of course, it's all effective, everything is cool, it's all that is needed (SFO, w,31).

Here it is also necessary to specify such a criterion of effectiveness as an increasing social demand for digital projects – from the authorities, social movements, grant-givers

There is a very large request to create projects in the digital environment on various topics. One of the directions of our activity is the preparation of social projects for protection at various forums for receiving grants (NWFD, m,28).

Experts, talking about the effectiveness of digital activism, point not only to positive social effects and the development of criteria indicating an increase in efficiency. They often perceive the situation as a dual one, in which positive trends collide with factors and conditions that act as barriers to the implementation and achievement of full-fledged results of digital initiatives. Recognizing that digital activism in general and the achievement of its effectiveness, in particular, is a multifactorial process, experts try to highlight those points that, in their opinion, currently have the greatest deterrent effect.

Firstly, negative perceptions about the effectiveness of digital activism. N. Mata speaks about the prevailing negative perception of online activism and comes to the conclusion that in fact it can be more effective than people assume. She cites the results of studies that show a connection between activism and information exchange in social networks, on the one hand, and various real forms of civic engagement (attending events, participating in charity, etc.), on the other ^[14]. The Russian and foreign experience of studying online activism captures the duality of theoretical interpretations of the potential and the ambiguity of assessments of its practical results ^[4]. In this study, the experts themselves are not always ready to unequivocally declare the effectiveness of online forms of activism.

In principle, this is useful, but on the other hand, how much these things can really affect something. The question is still quite big in this regard (CFD, m,24).

Secondly, the subject and scope of activism can have a significant impact on the level of effectiveness. In study B. Shi has shown that digital activism in the field of human rights and political issues is less likely to succeed than in the field of civic development, and activism facing the government is less likely than directed at informal groups or individuals ^[16]. At the same time, the involvement of the media for the purposes of cooperation has most often benefited digital activism. According to the results of the survey of Russian experts, they also see a number of problem areas – expensive or important projects for the authorities, interference of more significant social topics, etc.

Perhaps not everything could be broken through, perhaps some large projects for which the authorities really wanted to spend a lot of money, they were powerless there (CFR, w,25).

In the beginning, they had a struggle quite successfully, they seemed to have achieved serious publicity that even the governor spoke, but then the Crimea happened and somehow, apparently on a patriotic wave, using this, the authorities still managed to push the issue (CFD, m, 31).

Thirdly, there is still a low awareness of the population about digital technologies and opportunities for participation. Even the portal of Public Services is regarded as an insufficiently well-known platform.

A lot of people don't know that in Public Services you can complain about what problems you have. I notice that usually in new areas people who are younger, they are usually more knowledgeable and leave some complaints (SFD, w, 34).

Fourth, the problem of formalization or even simulation of citizens' activity is outlined. The expert presents an image of a sandbox in which there is an imitation of civic participation.

On the other hand, it's bad that people's request remains in the air. It is necessary that these platforms are not just a way of engaging the population, so that this is how children play in the sandbox, so that they are given, conditionally, to feel like kings of the world (SFO, w,26).

Fifth, digital activism is inferior to offline forms in a number of issues related to organization, formalization, control and other management tasks. This makes it less effective at solving some problems. For example, K. Cooper found that online activism is effective for drawing attention to the problem and raising funds, but at the same time online support stops quickly and attention to the project falls, so digital projects are best suited for quick and short-term campaigns ^[10]. Russian experts also point out that the hybrid format of project implementation is often the most effective.

Digital activism can affect real changes in society when participants act in an organized manner. But in order to achieve concrete results, a combination of online activity and offline promotions may be required, since some decisions and changes may require more formal procedures (NCFD, zh,22).

Sixth, experts point out that the experience of digital activism is short in duration, it is impossible to achieve high indicators for this period, as well as to conduct their adequate and correct assessment.

Very little time has passed in order to analyze digital forms of civic activity at all. Let's say our Siberian Federal District – this digital model literally exists for a year or two. There is no sufficient experience of the organization, there is no well-established system that can contribute to the success of these initiatives. Today it is very easy for organizations to report using just this digital form, that is, to take a photo and post something. Still ineffective, because digital activism is not in balance with the traditional one, when we digitally promote the initiative, and then no one gathered and really did not gather anyone (SFO, m,32).

Conclusion. The results of the study allow us to talk about digital activism as a new social force with a high potential for increasing efficiency. With the development of digital technologies, social networks, online platforms, websites and digital communities, social movements and initiatives can be managed more effectively. Digital participation is becoming a new organizational tool that allows to increase the mobilization of participants, expand the scope of events, facilitate coordination of actions, accelerate the implementation of projects and decision-making. The results of the study show a higher assessment by experts of the potential effectiveness of digital activism in the presence of a close connection with traditional forms of civic engagement. It is also important to note that digital activism leads to fundamental changes in social life ^[11], makes activism practices routine and potentially effective at the same time.

The selected indicators of the effectiveness of digital participation will expand the scientific apparatus of research on civic engagement in modern Russian society, and can also be used in the practice of evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of real projects, grant applications, initiatives put forward and trends in the development of digital participation. The prospects for studying this issue are related to the deepening of ideas about the social effects of digital activism, the identification and comparison of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of other participating subjects, as well as the definition of mechanisms for improving the effectiveness of digital forms of activism and the satisfaction of their participants.