“texting democracy” in Korea. While
SMS is often viewed as a conveyor of
votes, texting democracy expands
what it can convey, from votes alone
to words, allegations, and opinions.
In this sense, SMS in direct citizen-to-politician communication is not atypical but routine. Citizens have been
engaged in political processes and
events, including through ministers’
communication via SMS. Using SMS
motivates citizens to participate, even
though they do not generally participate in other areas. 9 Moreover, SMS
communication between citizens
and politicians signals that technological development and its application in political participation have
moved and could move further from
what has historically been the closed
sphere of politicians into the public sphere, as reflected in this citizen
comment: “[National Assembly mem-ber] Kim Sung Tae’s number is public
goods.” Our findings are in line with
the political science literature advocating the virtues of mobile telephony
in a healthy democracy when used for
citizen-politician communication. 14
Collective intelligence can be
achieved in a digital-media environ-
ment characterized by openness, flu-
idity, and dynamic interaction to pro-
duce a new relationship, including in
online communities. 15 In our example
of citizen-politician communication,
the civic participation using collective
intelligence also engendered “com-
mon knowledge,” or knowledge ev-
eryone knows, in terms of both opin-
ion and fact. 6 As the original citizen’s
political tip-off alert in 2016 was cov-
ered extensively, millions of ordinary
Korean citizens were able to see how
their fellow citizens, as well as they
themselves, are able to exert political
influence through e-participation and
collective intelligence. The now-avail-
able common knowledge is expected
to influence the Korean public’s way
of thinking and behavior6 by granting
them greater confidence in their opin-
ions, as well as helping politicians de-
velop the personal attitudes needed
to accept them. Common knowledge
and a shared nationwide knowledge
space can explain the increased par-
ticipation of citizens using collective
intelligence. Such changes consoli-
date new notions of political partici-
to press on with diverse actions,” and
“Netizens investigation teams chas-
ing the problem and collecting data
are the subjects that make civil revo-
lution.” Other citizens said: “I feel
like I did good for my country,” “You
are a patriot,” “Our gallery [commu-
nity] protects our country,” “Justice
wins,” and “The truth will be known.”
Implications
Exploring the factors that motivated
otherwise ordinary citizens to take
the initiative in e-participation in the
case of this Korean political intrigue,
we have identified several topics lacking from the scholarly literature by
focusing instead on social media and
individual citizen initiative. The implications reflect how social media
and other ICT contribute to “true participation” in the digital age. 1, 21, 26
Live-streaming services and digital
archives allowing millions of Koreans
to seek the truth and check political
facts produced critical public opinion
when their content was known to online communities. Various models of
public-opinion formation, including
in Katz and Lazarsfeld, 12 have verified
that individuals are influenced more
through interaction with one another
than with mass media. Citizen-users
of online communities constantly
reinforce the impact of the political
content they find in live-streaming
services and digital archives by sharing them with other users who then
post comments, helping generate a
critical mass of public opinion. A government’s live-streaming service and
official activities of major politicians,
through constant activity and updating over decades, 5 can thus stimulate
a critical public response in online
communities or social media. Such
digital information is more meaningful in terms of political participation
when it causes the exchange of opinions than when it flows in only one
direction, traditionally from government to the public.
Disclosure of the personal cellphone numbers of National Assembly members facilitated what had
not previously been considered a
means of political participation, enabling both individual and collective opinions in the form of what is
often called “texting movement” or
Although an
individual citizen’s
participation can
seem solitary,
the wisdom
of collective
intelligence
was now being
exercised behind
the scenes.
