I Shield Myself From Thee: Selective Avoidance on Social Media During Political Protests

Zhu, Qinfeng; Škorić, Marko M.; Shen, Fei

doi:10.1080/10584609.2016.1222471

Cited by 97 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Characterizing politically motivated unfrienders, studies found that unfriending behavior is more likely among those who use social networking services more intensely and those who have more friends on these platforms. This suggests that both factors come along with a greater likelihood to encounter political disagreements as well as a greater literacy in terms of knowing how to actively shape one’s network [ 5 , 8 , 23 ]. Studies also found that especially those who have greater political interest, are ideologically extreme, and less supportive of free speech tend to terminate digital connections because of political disagreements [ 4 , 5 , 7 , 23 ].…”

Section: Politically Motivated Unfriending Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“You’re still worth it”: The moral and relational context of politically motivated unfriending decisions in online networks

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Political disagreements in social media can result in removing (i.e., “unfriending”) a person from one’s online network. Given that such actions could lead to the (ideological) homogenization of networks, it is pivotal to understand the psychological processes intertwined in unfriending decisions. This requires not only addressing different types of disagreements but also analyzing them in the relational context they occur. This article proposes that political disagreements leading to drastic measures such as unfriending are attributable to more deeply rooted moral dissents. Based on moral foundations theory and relationship regulation research, this work presents empirical evidence from two experiments. In both studies, subjects rated political statements (that violated different moral foundations) with regard to perceived reprehensibility and the likelihood of unfriending the source. Study 1 (N = 721) revealed that moral judgments of a political statement are moderately related to the unfriending decision. Study 2 (N = 822) replicated this finding but indicated that unfriending is less likely when the source of the morally reprehensible statement is relationally close to the unfriender and provides emotional support. This research extends unfriending literature by pointing to morality as a new dimension of analysis and offers initial evidence uncovering the psychological trade-off behind the decision of terminating digital ties. Drawing on this, our findings inform research on the homogenization of online networks by indicating that selective avoidance (in the form of politically motivated unfriending) is conditional upon the relational context and the interpersonal benefits individuals receive therein.

show abstract

Section: Politically Motivated Unfriending Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“You’re still worth it”: The moral and relational context of politically motivated unfriending decisions in online networks

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Bimber proposes three distinct but related theoretical explanations: organizationprompted behavior (traditional forms of participation that are enhanced, and often encouraged by the adaption of organized and formally structured initiatives to digital environments), socially prompted behavior (civic behavior based on awareness that other people are performing similar activities), and self-prompted behavior (actions that are based on personal initiative as a result of exposure to information rather than direct encouragement from organizations or other users, facilitated especially by access to a plethora of social media and the resultant lowered costs of such actions). The subsequent articles included in this special issue are bound around this theoretical approach focusing on incentives or/and encouragement (Gil de Zuniga, Barnidge, & Scherman, 2017;Lilleker & Koc-Michalska, 2017;Vaccari, 2017) or how distinct forms of organization-prompted participation (Gibson, Greffet, & Cantijoch, 2017) and socially prompted participation (Zhu, Skoric, & Shen, 2017) take place in a digital media environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Politics: Mobilization, Engagement, and Participation

Koc-Michalska¹,

Lilleker

2016

Political Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

International audienceA wealth of studies have explored online political communication since the early 1990s, and parallel significant interest has been given to how digital technologies offer pathways to participation. We have learned from a range of studies, most of which are referenced across the essays, that digital technologies, and particular the spaces that permit social interaction, may facilitate forms of political engagement

show abstract

“…More recently, some scholars (Zhu, Skoric, & Shen, 2017) have argued that because people avoid unwanted information due to threats from those who hold diverging views, social media do not always motivate political participation during protests. Using a survey from the 2014 Hong Kong Umbrella Movement, Zhu, Skoric, and Shen (2017) found that one sixth of survey participants removed certain information on Facebook because of differing political views. They also found that the individuals who were more likely to use Facebook for protests tended to shield themselves from dissonant political views by severing online ties (i.e., unfriending in Facebook) and hiding unwelcomed content.…”

Section: The Relationships Among Different Media Platformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Internet Content Mobilizes Protests: The Case of Two Anti-Government Protests in Korea

Kim

2019

Social Science Computer Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study enhances our understanding of the interplay between Internet content and protests. Utilizing 47 in-depth interviews conducted during two mass protests in South Korea, the study investigated how Internet content affects the mobilization of people and if or how the emergence of social networking sites (SNSs) has changed Internet use. Applying qualitative methods, it revealed that the Internet helps mobilize protests by providing a space for reproduced and affective content and exposing people to multiple perspectives against which they can test the legitimacy of their personal beliefs. The study showed that, unlike the Internet, SNSs are less-than-ideal tools for political participation. By focusing on Internet content and examining the use and perception of the Internet in two protests separated by an 8-year interval, this study makes unique contributions in the realm of the Internet and mobilization.

show abstract

I Shield Myself From Thee: Selective Avoidance on Social Media During Political Protests

Cited by 97 publications

References 48 publications

“You’re still worth it”: The moral and relational context of politically motivated unfriending decisions in online networks

“You’re still worth it”: The moral and relational context of politically motivated unfriending decisions in online networks

Digital Politics: Mobilization, Engagement, and Participation

How Internet Content Mobilizes Protests: The Case of Two Anti-Government Protests in Korea

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About