scholarly journals Does incidental exposure on social media equalize or reinforce participatory gaps? Evidence from a panel study

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 2463-2482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffael Heiss ◽  
Jörg Matthes
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Incidental Exposure ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Using Data ◽  
High Effort

Existing research indicates that incidental exposure to political information on social media may function as an equalizer, stimulating political engagement among the politically detached. In this article, we challenge this notion and propose that there are good reasons to assume that incidental exposure may reinforce existing gaps. We test the equalizing against the reinforcing hypothesis using data from a two-wave panel study ( N = 559). We find a positive main effect of incidental exposure on low-effort digital participation. However, this effect was not conditional on political interest, as the equalizing assumption would have suggested. More interestingly, we found that the effect of incidental exposure on high-effort digital participation was conditional on political interest. However, against the assumption of equalization, individuals with low levels of political interest were negatively affected by incidental exposure, thus lending support for the reinforcement hypothesis. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Antecedents of intentional and incidental exposure modes on social media and consequences for political participation: a panel study

Acta Politica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Nanz ◽  
Raffael Heiss ◽  
Jörg Matthes
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Political Information ◽  
The Social ◽  
Incidental Exposure ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Intentional Mode ◽  
Austrian Population ◽  
High Effort

AbstractThis study investigates antecedents and consequences of incidental and intentional exposure behavior to political information on social media. Based on the Social Media Political Participation Model (SMPPM), we investigated how political and non-political motivations predict intentional and incidental exposure modes while accounting for moderators (i.e., personal curation skills and the frequency of social media political exposure). We also examined how intentional and incidental exposure modes affect low- and high-effort political participation. We rely on data from a two-wave panel survey based on representative quotas for the Austrian population (N = 559) to run autoregressive models. Political information motivation predicted the intentional mode, and this relationship was stronger with rising levels of curation skills. By contrast, entertainment and social interaction motivations increased individuals’ incidental exposure mode. The intentional mode led to low-effort political participation but not to high-effort participation. However, the incidental mode was unrelated to both low- and high-effort participation.

Social media, porous boundaries, and the development of online political engagement among young citizens

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 740-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mats Ekström ◽  
Adam Shehata
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Motivation Factors ◽  
Information Interaction ◽  
Porous Boundaries

Concepts such as “porous boundaries” and “low thresholds” appear frequently in the literature on online political engagement. Social media, it is argued, are characterized by less distinct boundaries between non-political and political activities, thereby lowering thresholds into political engagement. This argument is analyzed and empirically tested. Relying on a five-wave panel study among Swedish adolescents, we provide unique insights into the levels and development of political engagement in online political information, interaction, production, and collective action. In sum, the findings show that, for a majority, social interaction in social media coincides with engagement in political information and interaction, while few are engaged in production and collective action. Second, the study provides limited support to the idea that low thresholds in social media promote patterns of tune-in, tune-out political engagement over time. Finally, social interaction in social media has clear effects on online political engagement beyond political socialization and motivation factors.

Does Social Media Engagement Translate to Civic Engagement Offline?

2021 ◽  
pp. 089976402199944
Author(s):  
Jaclyn Piatak ◽  
Ian Mikkelsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Engagement ◽  
Informal Volunteering ◽  
Using Data

People increasingly engage in politics on social media, but does online engagement translate to offline engagement? Research is mixed with some suggesting how one uses the internet maters. We examine how political engagement on social media corresponds to offline engagement. Using data following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, we find the more politically engaged people are on social media, the more likely they are to engage offline across measures of engagement—formal and informal volunteering, attending local meetings, donating to and working for political campaigns, and voting. Findings offer important nuances across types of civic engagement and generations. Although online engagement corresponds to greater engagement offline in the community and may help narrow generational gaps, this should not be the only means to promote civic participation to ensure all have a voice and an opportunity to help, mobilize, and engage.

scholarly journals Who to Trust on Social Media: How Opinion Leaders and Seekers Avoid Disinformation and Echo Chambers

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512091399
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dubois ◽  
Sara Minaeian ◽  
Ariane Paquet-Labelle ◽  
Simon Beaudry
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Information Verification ◽  
Low Levels

As trust in news media and social media dwindles and fears of disinformation and echo chambers spread, individuals need to find ways to access and assess reliable and trustworthy information. Despite low levels of trust in social media, they are used for accessing political information and news. In this study, we examine the information verification practices of opinion leaders (who consume political information above average and share their opinions on social media above average) and of opinion seekers (who seek out political information from friends and family) to understand similarities and differences in their news media trust, fact-checking behaviors, and likeliness of being caught in echo chambers. Based on a survey of French Internet users ( N = 2,000) we find that not only opinion leaders, but also opinion seekers, have higher rates across all three of these dependent variables. We discuss the implications of findings for the development of opinion leadership theory as well as for social media platforms wishing to increase trust.

scholarly journals The uncertain first-time voter: Effects of political media exposure on young citizens’ formation of vote choice in a digital media environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 3243-3265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Ohme ◽  
Claes H. de Vreese ◽  
Erik Albaek
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
News Sources ◽  
First Time

The digital media environment changes the way citizens receive political information, also during an election campaign. Particularly first-time voters increasingly use social media platforms as news sources. Yet, it is less clear how accessing political information in such a unique social setting affects these cohorts’ decision-making processes during an election campaign, compared to experienced voters. We compare effects of these two groups’ political information exposure on their vote choice certainty during the 2015 Danish national election. We furthermore test how the relation between exposure and certainty can be mediated by active campaign participation. An 11-wave national panel study was conducted, using a smartphone-based assessment of citizens’ ( n = 1108) media exposure and vote choice certainty across the campaign period. Results suggest that first-time voters’ social media exposure is responsible for their increase in certainty as the campaign progresses, while this effect is absent for experienced voters.

scholarly journals Sharing and Commenting Facilitate Political Learning on Facebook: Evidence From a Two-Wave Panel Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512110478
Author(s):  
Dam Hee Kim ◽  
Brian E. Weeks ◽  
Daniel S. Lane ◽  
Lauren B. Hahn ◽  
Nojin Kwak
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Political Learning ◽  
Political News

Social media, as sources of political news and sites of political discussion, may be novel environments for political learning. Many early reports, however, failed to find that social media use promotes gains in political knowledge. Prior research has not yet fully explored the possibility based on the communication mediation model that exposure to political information on social media facilitates political expression, which may subsequently encourage political learning. We find support for this mediation model in the context of Facebook by analyzing a two-wave survey prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In particular, sharing and commenting, not liking or opinion posting, may facilitate political knowledge gains.

Social Media and Youth Interest in Politics in Kenya

2013 ◽  
pp. 273-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Auma Churchill Moses Otieno ◽  
Lusike Lynete Mukhongo
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Youth Engagement ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Post Test

The youth in Kenya are by far the majority age-group, yet their role in politics is hampered by their inability to access mainstream political information. The objective of the study is to determine whether there is any relationship between the level of youth engagement on social media and their level of interest in politics. The study uses the post-test quasi experiment to compare political interest between a naturally occurring group of Facebook users and a naturally occurring group of non-Facebook users. The findings of the study reveal that Facebook has provided the youth with a platform where they can access political information in formats that are appealing to them. Consequently, young people have been able to mobilise themselves online and push for a political agenda. There is, therefore, need to open up online exchanges in order to create a place for young people in mainstream political discourse in Kenya.

‘The moral power of the citizen questioner’: scrutinizing the value of audience questions on the ABC’s Q&A

2016 ◽  
Vol 161 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Eslick
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Political News ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Moral Power ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Using Data

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) weekly political discussion program Q&A aims to make Australian politics more engaging to ordinary citizens by allowing direct access between ‘punters’ and ‘pollies’. The program is a unique forum in the Australian political public sphere where citizens (represented by the studio audience) are awarded greater power than in conventional political news and current affairs formats. However, some critics have argued that the program is, among other things, overly editorialized and contrived and more autocratic than democratic, where the power of the citizen is superficial only. Using data gathered from focus groups, this article explores attitudes toward the role of the audience questioners on Q&A – one of the defining ‘democratizing’ features of the program. Considering responses of viewers with both high and low levels of political engagement has led to interesting findings about how motivations for watching Q&A, as well as expectations about how it should function, differ according to viewers’ pre-existing level of political interest.

scholarly journals The Social Rewards of Engagement: Appealing to Social Motivations to Stimulate Political Interest at High and Low Levels of External Efficacy

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Robison
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiment ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Revealed Preferences ◽  
Social Motives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Social Motivations ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Social Rewards

Political interest is a crucial precursor to political engagement, but little is known about how to stimulate greater interest. The article explores the role social motives have in generating interest. A laboratory experiment is used in which it is possible to manipulate beliefs about the social rewards of political engagement as well as external efficacy beliefs. Across two types of measures for political interest (self-reports and revealed preferences), connecting political engagement with social rewards led to substantial increases in political interest. Moreover, these effects were particularly strong among individuals with low levels of external efficacy. Ultimately, the data provide clear evidence that political interest can be positively stimulated with social rewards mobilisation techniques and that it is rooted in beliefs about the potential motives pursuable through politics. The paper concludes with a discussion of the broader implications of these results for studies of political participation and mobilisation efforts.

scholarly journals College Students and Online Political Expression During the 2016 Election

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth W. Moffett ◽  
Laurie L. Rice
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Expression ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Online Forms ◽  
Oriented Activity

While college students traditionally exhibit low levels of political participation and interest in politics, they are more likely to engage in some forms of political expression than their elders. Their greater familiarity with online forms of political expression and engagement potentially lowers their barriers for political involvement. In turn, this potentially draws more young adults into the political process. The authors compare the precursors of expressive forms of online political engagement to those of talking to someone off-line and trying to persuade them to vote for or against a candidate or party among college students. They find that both activities are positively connected with politically oriented activity on social media as well as the frequency with which one reads blogs. They also discover that the mechanisms that explain online political expression are both similar to and different from those that explain off-line attempts at persuasion in several key ways.

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