The Role of Political Activity in the Formation of Online Identity Bubbles

Abstract

Increasing social media use has transformed political participation by creating social cliques and echo chambers, which involve interaction between like‐minded people. This article examines the relationship between online political activity and personal involvement in online identity bubbles. This study is the first to examine this phenomenon using nationally representative data; its data were derived from surveys targeted at 18–74‐year‐old Finns (N = 3,724). Measures included online political activity, the Identity Bubble Reinforcement Scale, and behavioral and demographic factors. The results show that online political activity was positively associated with online identity bubbles. This effect was strong even after controlling for behavioral and demographic factors. In addition to online political activity, general online activity, online network size, and basic sociodemographic background variables explained variation of involvement in online identity bubbles. However, neither political preference nor political interest had a systematic effect on involvement in these bubbles. The findings confirm the theoretical assumption that online bubbles can be captured using subjective survey measures. Political activity appears to be a key factor associated with the strength of the online bubble experience. This finding has significance in the contemporary information society, in which various mundane discussions and cultural disputes become politically tinged.

Social Media and Access to Drugs Online: A Nationwide Study in the United States and Spain among Adolescents and Young Adults

“…Due to this difference from the U.S., more research is needed to understand the contextual and cultural differences potentially explaining these results. For example, scholarship on online cliques and bubbles has shown that they vary culturally and topically (Keipi et al, 2017;Koivula et al, 2019). Additionally, negative peer influence on deviant behavior has been widely demonstrated (Cutrín et al, 2019).…”

“…This is particularly the case on the Internet, where it is very easy to get access to harmful and deviant content and form social contacts with like-minded peers (Keipi et al, 2017;Oksanen et al, 2016;Oksanen et al, 2014). Negative influences gained online might be enforced by "social cliques" or "social bubbles" of other similar people (Kaakinen, Sirola, et al, 2018;Keipi et al, 2017;Koivula et al, 2019;Savolainen et al, 2020). However, strong ties with offline friends have been shown to buffer risky online behavior (Kaakinen, Keipi, et al, 2018).…”

Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of interpersonal communication of adolescents with an increased level of anxiety

“…В статье финских коллег [72] на основе модели усиления идентичности пузыря социальных сетей [51] показано, как личное и профессиональное использование социальных сетей связано с кибербуллингом и виктимизацией на рабочем месте, как вовлечение в социальные сети смягчает взаимосвязь этих явлений с такими проблемами как психологический стресс, техностресс и профессиональное выгорание. В связи с этим следует подчеркнуть, что пузыри идентичности определяют деятельность людей [52] и связаны с процессами социальной идентификации [105].…”

Undercurrents of echo chambers and flame wars: party political correlates of social media behavior

“…To gain a more detailed understanding of how political motivators associate with different behaviors, we assess how the relations between behaviors and politically active social media use as well party preference overlap. Recent research shows that politically active social media users tend to support more extreme political values (Koiranen, Koivula, Saarinen, & Keipi, 2020a) and are more likely to become entangled in identity bubbles (Koivula, Kaakinen, Oksanen, & Räsänen, 2019a). In this respect, politically active social media use may encourage supporters of different parties to leverage different online behaviors.…”