“…For one, debates are increasingly polarized, as technological advances enable the avoidance of dissonant, and acquisition of affirming, information (Lupovici, 2012, p. 818). Second, the Internet has become a primary “transitional object” for achieving OS, embedding individuals within online networks (Areni, 2019) that reinforce social affiliations and deliver digital sources of news (Milina, 2012, p. 55), providing the “warmth and information” critical for OS (Cohen & Metzger, 1998, p. 52). A consequence, however, is individuals are progressively interacting within “identity bubbles” (Kaakinen, Sirola, Savolainen, & Oksanen, 2020), helping increase partisanship as a salient social identity (Lupton, Singh, & Thorton, 2015; McCoy, Rahman, & Somer, 2018, p. 22).…”