Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Karolina Koc-Michalska; Darren Graham Lilleker; Yannis Theocharis; Toril Aalberg; Ana Sofia Cardenal; Laia Castro; Nicoleta Corbu; Claes de Vreese; Frank Esser; David Nicolas Hopmann; Jörg Matthes; Christian Schemer; Tamir Sheafer; Sergio Splendore; James Stanyer; Agnieszka Stępińska; Vaclav Stetka; Jesper Strömbäck; Alon Zoizner

doi:10.1177/14614448261444723

Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Karolina Koc-Michalska
, Darren Graham Lilleker
, Yannis Theocharis^*
, Toril Aalberg
, Ana Sofia Cardenal
, Laia Castro
, Nicoleta Corbu
, Claes de Vreese
, Frank Esser
, David Nicolas Hopmann
, Jörg Matthes
, Christian Schemer
, Tamir Sheafer
, Sergio Splendore
, James Stanyer
, Agnieszka Stępińska
, Vaclav Stetka
, Jesper Strömbäck
, Alon Zoizner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This study investigates shifts in citizenship norms during crisis. Citizenship, a core concept of democratic theory, reflects an allegiance to the state founded on public sovereignty, and individuals having the right and capacity to participate in political decision-making. Drawing on Schnaudt et al.’s framework, we explore changes in dutiful, autonomy, and solidarity norms through a two-wave panel study conducted across 17 European democracies in December 2019 and April 2020. Our data demonstrate that media use expectedly increased, and citizenship norms shifted significantly in some cases. Changes correlate strongly with rising levels of political interest. Complex patterns occur for different platform use: Facebook reinforced dutiful citizenship, Twitter strengthened autonomy norms, and WhatsApp solidarity norms. Exposure to congruent content enhanced adherence to all three norms, while peer-to-peer influence positively impacted autonomy and solidarity norms. The study contributes to ongoing discussions about the impact of the digital media environment on citizens’ relationships with democratic institutions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2981-3003
Number of pages	23
Journal	New Media and Society
Volume	28
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448261444723
State	Published - Jul 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic
cross-cutting exposure
norms of citizenship
social media platforms
sources of influence

Access to Document

10.1177/14614448261444723

Cite this

Koc-Michalska, K., Lilleker, D. G., Theocharis, Y., Aalberg, T., Cardenal, A. S., Castro, L., Corbu, N., de Vreese, C., Esser, F., Hopmann, D. N., Matthes, J., Schemer, C., Sheafer, T., Splendore, S., Stanyer, J., Stępińska, A., Stetka, V., Strömbäck, J., & Zoizner, A. (2026). Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. New Media and Society, 28(7), 2981-3003. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448261444723

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title = "Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic",

abstract = "This study investigates shifts in citizenship norms during crisis. Citizenship, a core concept of democratic theory, reflects an allegiance to the state founded on public sovereignty, and individuals having the right and capacity to participate in political decision-making. Drawing on Schnaudt et al.{\textquoteright}s framework, we explore changes in dutiful, autonomy, and solidarity norms through a two-wave panel study conducted across 17 European democracies in December 2019 and April 2020. Our data demonstrate that media use expectedly increased, and citizenship norms shifted significantly in some cases. Changes correlate strongly with rising levels of political interest. Complex patterns occur for different platform use: Facebook reinforced dutiful citizenship, Twitter strengthened autonomy norms, and WhatsApp solidarity norms. Exposure to congruent content enhanced adherence to all three norms, while peer-to-peer influence positively impacted autonomy and solidarity norms. The study contributes to ongoing discussions about the impact of the digital media environment on citizens{\textquoteright} relationships with democratic institutions.",

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note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).",

year = "2026",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1177/14614448261444723",

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volume = "28",

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Koc-Michalska, K, Lilleker, DG, Theocharis, Y, Aalberg, T, Cardenal, AS, Castro, L, Corbu, N, de Vreese, C, Esser, F, Hopmann, DN, Matthes, J, Schemer, C, Sheafer, T, Splendore, S, Stanyer, J, Stępińska, A, Stetka, V, Strömbäck, J & Zoizner, A 2026, 'Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic', New Media and Society, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 2981-3003. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448261444723

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AU - Koc-Michalska, Karolina

AU - Lilleker, Darren Graham

AU - Theocharis, Yannis

AU - Aalberg, Toril

AU - Cardenal, Ana Sofia

AU - Castro, Laia

AU - Corbu, Nicoleta

AU - de Vreese, Claes

AU - Esser, Frank

AU - Hopmann, David Nicolas

AU - Matthes, Jörg

AU - Schemer, Christian

AU - Sheafer, Tamir

AU - Splendore, Sergio

AU - Stanyer, James

AU - Stępińska, Agnieszka

AU - Stetka, Vaclav

AU - Strömbäck, Jesper

AU - Zoizner, Alon

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

PY - 2026/7

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N2 - This study investigates shifts in citizenship norms during crisis. Citizenship, a core concept of democratic theory, reflects an allegiance to the state founded on public sovereignty, and individuals having the right and capacity to participate in political decision-making. Drawing on Schnaudt et al.’s framework, we explore changes in dutiful, autonomy, and solidarity norms through a two-wave panel study conducted across 17 European democracies in December 2019 and April 2020. Our data demonstrate that media use expectedly increased, and citizenship norms shifted significantly in some cases. Changes correlate strongly with rising levels of political interest. Complex patterns occur for different platform use: Facebook reinforced dutiful citizenship, Twitter strengthened autonomy norms, and WhatsApp solidarity norms. Exposure to congruent content enhanced adherence to all three norms, while peer-to-peer influence positively impacted autonomy and solidarity norms. The study contributes to ongoing discussions about the impact of the digital media environment on citizens’ relationships with democratic institutions.

AB - This study investigates shifts in citizenship norms during crisis. Citizenship, a core concept of democratic theory, reflects an allegiance to the state founded on public sovereignty, and individuals having the right and capacity to participate in political decision-making. Drawing on Schnaudt et al.’s framework, we explore changes in dutiful, autonomy, and solidarity norms through a two-wave panel study conducted across 17 European democracies in December 2019 and April 2020. Our data demonstrate that media use expectedly increased, and citizenship norms shifted significantly in some cases. Changes correlate strongly with rising levels of political interest. Complex patterns occur for different platform use: Facebook reinforced dutiful citizenship, Twitter strengthened autonomy norms, and WhatsApp solidarity norms. Exposure to congruent content enhanced adherence to all three norms, while peer-to-peer influence positively impacted autonomy and solidarity norms. The study contributes to ongoing discussions about the impact of the digital media environment on citizens’ relationships with democratic institutions.

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KW - cross-cutting exposure

KW - norms of citizenship

KW - social media platforms

KW - sources of influence

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Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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