Social Media, News Consumption, and Polarization: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Social Media, News Consumption, and Polarization: Evidence from a Field Experiment
复制标题
社交媒体、新闻消费和两极分化：来自实地实验的证据
DOI：
10.1257/aer.20191777
复制
发表时间：
2021-03-01
影响因子：
10.7
通讯作者：
Levy, Ro'ee
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Levy, Ro'ee
在社交媒体上消费意识形态一致的新闻会加剧两极分化吗？我通过进行一项大型实地实验来估计社交媒体新闻曝光的影响，随机为参与者提供Facebook上保守或自由新闻媒体的订阅。我收集媒体效应因果链的数据：订阅渠道，在Facebook上接触新闻，访问在线新闻网站，分享帖子，以及政治观点和态度的变化。有四个主要发现。首先，在社交媒体上接触新闻的随机变化极大地影响了个人访问的新闻网站的倾向。第二，接触反态度的新闻减少了对反对党的负面态度。第三，与对态度的影响相反，我没有发现任何证据表明新闻媒体的政治倾向会影响政治观点。第四，Facebook的算法不太可能向个人提供来自反态度渠道的帖子，条件是个人订阅它们。总之，结果表明，社交媒体算法可能会限制接触反态度的新闻，从而增加两极分化。
Does the consumption of ideologically congruent news on social media exacerbate polarization? I estimate the effects of social media news exposure by conducting a large field experiment randomly offering participants subscriptions to conservative or liberal news outlets on Facebook. I collect data on the causal chain of media effects: subscriptions to outlets, exposure to news on Facebook, visits to online news sites, and sharing of posts, as well as changes in political opinions and attitudes. Four main findings emerge. First, random variation in exposure to news on social media substantially affects the slant of news sites that individuals visit. Second, exposure to counter-attitudinal news decreases negative attitudes toward the opposing political party. Third, in contrast to the effect on attitudes, I find no evidence that the political leanings of news outlets affect political opinions. Fourth, Facebook's algorithm is less likely to supply individuals with posts from -counter-attitudinal outlets, conditional on individuals subscribing to them. Together, the results suggest that social media algorithms may limit exposure to -counter-attitudinal news and thus increase polarization.