The use of party websites for political information among Spanish party activists

Abstract

Scholars have shown that activists use the Internet for political purposes more often than passive rank-and-file members. Previous research indicates activists engage in different types of activities and with various levels of intensity. However, it is unclear to what extent such modes of party activism are linked to different uses of digital resources. Our paper contributes to the existing research by explaining what drives party website usage as an informational tool among different groups of party activists. Building on survey data from delegates attending party conferences between 2008 and 2017 in Spain, we test three main organisational drivers of party website use: the modes of internal activism, holding party offices, and ideological congruence. Our results confirm that those activists engaging in a wider range of activities, holding a party office, and being more ideologically congruent with their parties are more likely to use the party website frequently than the rest.