This week, another new study demonstrates that young people who pursue their interests online are more likely to be engaged with civic and political issues, and more likely to be exposed to divergent political viewpoints. “We found that being part of online participatory communities tied to youth interests, political or not, exposes youth to a greater degree of diverse viewpoints and issues and is related to higher levels of civic engagement,” said Joseph Kahne, author of the study. “Both of these outcomes are good for democracy.”

Another response to the folks who tell you the web is all Farmville and cyberbullying.

By the way, Government in the Lab is a terrific blog on changes (hopefully for the better) in government and politics, founded by John Moore. If this is up your alley, you’ll want to subscribe to the blog and follow John right now — one glance at his Twitter feed gives me enough fascinating, useful stuff to keep me busy for the rest of the day.

Posted via email from Rob Cottingham’s posterous

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