The popularization of the Internet and the adoption of social media have brought major
changes in the way of doing politics and managing the public arena. There is extensive
scientific literature confirming the relationship between the use of new media and electoral
political participation (Willnat et al, 2013; Lee and Shin, 2014; Ceron et al, 2014.). The
aim of this study is to determine the mechanism by which using social networks influences
the decision to vote. Ecuadorian citizens (n= 3,535) took part in an exploratory survey
during the first half of 2013. The authors tested the measures and scales included in the
questionnaire for validity and reliability; and they used a moderated mediation model
(Hayes, 2013) based on regression. Results show that positive influence of using social
networks on the decision to vote is not given directly, but rather through the search for
information and need for political deliberation. In this mediation process, the indirect
effect is in turn negatively moderated by age (the effect is stronger in young people). It
is argued that despite the influence that networks may have on the behavior of voters,
traditional factors related to the search for political information in more conventional
means (e.g. radio or TV) seem to have a more significant effect. The authors explain both
theoretical and practical implications. Finally, they address the study’s limitations regarding
the representativeness of the sample and suggest testing the model in other political
and cultural contexts