Participatory or deliberative democracy? Exploring the mediation effects of perceived online deliberation and online interactive activities on social outcomes

• Political news had strong effects on social outcomes both directly and indirectly.
• Entertainment news indirectly influenced political participation via news blogging.
• Perception of deliberation moderated an effect of political news on participation.
• News blogging mediated the relation between two types of news and participation.

Using the structural equation modeling method (N = 811), this study explores the structural relationships among online news consumption, political participation and social trust, with a focus on the mediating effects of online users’ deliberative perceptions and news-related online interactive activities. The analysis confirms that users’ perceptions of online deliberation exert a significant mediating effect on users’ levels of news consumption, political participation, and social trust. Users’ interactive civic messaging behaviors, on the other hand, solely enhance participatory intentions. The findings also show that the consumption of political news and the consumption of entertainment news have different effects on users’ perceptions of online deliberation, social trust, and political participation. Specifically, while political news has a direct and relatively strong influence on participation, entertainment news has a limited and indirect effect on participation. Online interactive activities are negatively associated with users’ perceived competency for online deliberation. Further implications of the study are also discussed.