ICTs, social connectivity, and collective action: A cultural-political perspective

In recent years, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have significantly affected the outcomes of large-scale collective actions. In addition, there is a well-known theoretical proposition that ICTs can fuel collective action by increasing individuals' social connectivity that is closely related to recruitment capacity. This study aims to test this proposition by examining two moderating factors: the cultural context (i.e., online communication patterns) and the political context (i.e., the distribution of political preferences). By utilizing agent-based modeling, we find that ICT-improved connectivity not only scales down collective action if the distribution of political preference is insufficiently dispersed, but it also slows the diffusion speed if the overall propensity to participate is not strong. Moreover, the effects of ICT-improved connectivity on the scale and speed of collective action are similar under different cultural contexts. However, the theoretical implications suggest that ICTs are more effective in the collectivistic culture than in the individualistic culture.