Mobile participation has been studied, so far, mostly from the perspective of emphasising human interaction with technology. The research question of our paper is, instead, how to support the ‘participation’ in mobile participation. We tackle this question by reviewing literature on inclusive participation and motivation in general, and discussing the significance for mobile participation. We begin the review with inclusiveness challenges of technology-mediated participation, followed by theories on motivation to participate and requirements of participation practices, and finally give our account of three ways in which mobile participation is already transforming the realm of participation. We conclude with concrete advice for those who seek to develop or implement mobile participation practices for citizen engagement.