Facebook has been credited with expanding political activity by simultaneously lowering barriers to participation and creating new ways to engage. However, many of these findings rely on subjects’ abilities to accurately report their Facebook use and political activity on the platform. This study combines survey responses and digital trace data from 828 American adults to determine whether subjects over- or underreport a range of political activities on Facebook, including whether they like political pages or share news links. The results show that individuals underestimate their frequency of status posting and overestimate their frequency of sharing news links on Facebook. Political interest is associated with a decrease in underreporting several political activities, while increasing the likelihood of overreporting the frequency of sharing news links. Furthermore, political interest serves a moderating effect, improving self-reports for high-volume users. The findings suggest that political interest not only predicts political activity but also shapes awareness of that activity and improves self-reports among heavy users.
The widespread adoption of the Internet offers tangible potential for increasing political participation through disseminating digital reminders to vote. This study presents three experiments in which confederates mobilize members of their networks to vote by tagging them in Facebook status updates. Relying on the technological affordances of Facebook, treatments publicize individuals' past participation or failure to vote in an ongoing election. The results show substantial increases in turnout greater than that which is usually produced by face‐to‐face methods. Findings suggest that digital media offer citizens the potential to generate tremendous gains in voter participation, and address concerns that our increasingly digitally networked society may prove harmful to democracy.
The American youth-led movement for gun violence prevention (YMGVP) that emerged after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has received tremendous media attention. To assess the potential effect of this coverage on readers’ efficacy, we conduct a two-wave population-based survey experiment on members of Generation Z, the Millennial generation, and Generation X that frames the movement as a success or failure in terms of achieving its political goals. Results show that emphasis framing impacts readers’ perceptions of the movement’s likely success in line with the manipulation. Furthermore, framing the YMGVP as unsuccessful suppresses readers’ own external and collective efficacy regardless of generation. Subjects’ support for gun control moderates the effect of treatment, such that individuals low in support express a decline in internal and information efficacy when presented with the success framing. Thus, we extend the effects of news framing beyond attitudes toward the subjects of reporting to readers’ own perceptions of themselves as capable of political action.
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