Filtering out the other side? Cross-cutting and like-minded discussions on social networking sites

Abstract

Disagreement persists as to whether social networking sites (SNSs) are used more frequently to facilitate cross-cutting or like-minded discussions. We examine the relationship between the use of SNSs and involvement in discussions with politically similar and dissimilar others among a sample of US Democrats and Republicans. Affective polarization is negatively related to involvement in cross-cutting discussions, suggesting that individuals extend their dislike of the opposing political party to out-party members within their online social networks. Moreover, political discussion with one’s friends on SNSs plays a mediating role in involvement in both cross-cutting and like-minded discussions. Finally, party identification moderates the relationship between SNS use and involvement in cross-cutting discussions, indicating that Republicans participate more frequently than Democrats in cross-cutting exchanges on SNSs. In the light of these findings, we discuss the contribution of SNSs to the ideals of deliberative democracy.

Greater Internet use is not associated with faster growth in political polarization among US demographic groups

“…1073/pnas.1706588114/-/DCSupplemental. correlates with lower polarization (25,26). However, experimental exposure to proattitudinal and counterattitudinal news on Facebook tends to increase polarization (27).…”

Political persuasion on social media: A moderated moderation model of political discussion disagreement and civil reasoning

“…Thanks to online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which largely translated offline social ties onto online platforms, there is arguable more convergence in the makeup and composition of online and offline social networks (e.g. Brundidge 2010;Eveland, Hutchens, and Morey 2013;Lee et al 2014;Heatherly, Lu, and Lee 2017). Thus, as the adoption and use of social media has become more widespread, they have grown in importance as sources of political information, not only from the news media, but also from personal social ties (Bond et al 2012).…”

Evaluating the effects of social networking sites addiction, task distraction, and self‐management on nurses' performance

“…so it is adopted by a large number of organizations (Skeels & Grudin., 2009). Similarly, SNSs is also used by employees for connecting with fellow employees (DiMicco et al, 2008), information searching (Ladkin & Buhalis, 2016), problemsolving (Lin, Hou, Wu, & Chang, 2014), discussions (Heatherly, Lu, & Lee, 2017), and information dissemination (Luarn, Yang, & Chiu, 2014) etc. On the other hand, employees are extensively using the SNSs while they are on their job which is affecting their on-the-job performance (Das & Sahoo, 2011).…”