The Power of Political Boycott in Online Communities and Blogs: Exploring Online Political Debaters on the Korean Government’s Beef Trade Policies with the U.S.

The research examines Korean political online communities‟ attempts to influence media content by conducting an advertising boycott against advertisers who placed advertising in the major newspapers that supported the Korean government‟s trade policies on beef imported from the United States. The sample includes leading individual bloggers and online community members who participated in organizing the boycott through their online communications. This study explores online political debaters‟ gratifications in using online communication to facilitate their boycott activities and their perceptions of the effectiveness of the two-way, internet-based communication in influencing the newspaper advertisers, newspaper content, and the ultimate result of the boycott activities. In addition, antigovernmental bloggers and OCMs (Online Community Member) saw more possibilities of their online communication information to influence directly involved advertisers than progovernmental online groups.