Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks

Liberal democratic contexts have been the focus of much of the existing research on the relationship between incidental exposure to news on social media and political participation gaps. There is also a limited understanding of the factors that influence the mobilizing or reinforcing role of inciden...

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Main Authors: Ahmed, Saifuddin, Gil-Lopez, Teresa
Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161975
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1619752022-09-28T01:29:47Z Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks Ahmed, Saifuddin Gil-Lopez, Teresa Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social sciences::Mass media Social sciences::Communication Accidental News Political Interest Liberal democratic contexts have been the focus of much of the existing research on the relationship between incidental exposure to news on social media and political participation gaps. There is also a limited understanding of the factors that influence the mobilizing or reinforcing role of incidental news exposure in this process. This study examines the role of incidental news exposure on social media in political interest-driven participatory gaps in Singapore. It also examines how education, social network size, and heterogeneous political discussions further modify the effect of incidental news on the participatory gaps between high and low political interest groups. Findings from primary survey data support the reinforcement thesis, suggesting that politically disinterested individuals are negatively affected by frequent incidental news exposure, but those with high political interest benefit. Moderated moderation analyses indicate that these participatory gaps only exist at higher education levels and within more extensive social networks. Further, politically disinterested citizens are at risk for further disengagement if they encounter news accidentally in bigger social networks or engage in heterogeneous political discussion. The study contributes to the growing scholarship on the effects of incidental news exposure on political participation by highlighting the role of education and social network characteristics in amplifying the incidental news-based participation gaps. 2022-09-28T01:29:47Z 2022-09-28T01:29:47Z 2022 Journal Article Ahmed, S. & Gil-Lopez, T. (2022). Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks. Telematics and Informatics, 68, 101764-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101764 0736-5853 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161975 10.1016/j.tele.2021.101764 2-s2.0-85121907861 68 101764 en Telematics and Informatics © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences::Mass media
Social sciences::Communication
Accidental News
Political Interest
spellingShingle Social sciences::Mass media
Social sciences::Communication
Accidental News
Political Interest
Ahmed, Saifuddin
Gil-Lopez, Teresa
Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks
description Liberal democratic contexts have been the focus of much of the existing research on the relationship between incidental exposure to news on social media and political participation gaps. There is also a limited understanding of the factors that influence the mobilizing or reinforcing role of incidental news exposure in this process. This study examines the role of incidental news exposure on social media in political interest-driven participatory gaps in Singapore. It also examines how education, social network size, and heterogeneous political discussions further modify the effect of incidental news on the participatory gaps between high and low political interest groups. Findings from primary survey data support the reinforcement thesis, suggesting that politically disinterested individuals are negatively affected by frequent incidental news exposure, but those with high political interest benefit. Moderated moderation analyses indicate that these participatory gaps only exist at higher education levels and within more extensive social networks. Further, politically disinterested citizens are at risk for further disengagement if they encounter news accidentally in bigger social networks or engage in heterogeneous political discussion. The study contributes to the growing scholarship on the effects of incidental news exposure on political participation by highlighting the role of education and social network characteristics in amplifying the incidental news-based participation gaps.
author2 Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
author_facet Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Ahmed, Saifuddin
Gil-Lopez, Teresa
format Article
author Ahmed, Saifuddin
Gil-Lopez, Teresa
author_sort Ahmed, Saifuddin
title Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks
title_short Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks
title_full Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks
title_fullStr Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks
title_full_unstemmed Incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks
title_sort incidental news exposure on social media and political participation gaps: unraveling the role of education and social networks
publishDate 2022
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161975
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