Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement

This study explores the role of political information seeking on social media and perceived exposure to misinformation in influencing online political engagement. A survey investigation of three Sub-Saharan African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa) suggests that both information seeking a...

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Main Authors: Ahmed, Saifuddin, Madrid-Morales, Dani, Tully, Melissa
Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170536
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1705362023-09-19T01:38:46Z Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement Ahmed, Saifuddin Madrid-Morales, Dani Tully, Melissa Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social sciences::Communication Political Engagement Survey This study explores the role of political information seeking on social media and perceived exposure to misinformation in influencing online political engagement. A survey investigation of three Sub-Saharan African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa) suggests that both information seeking and perceived exposure to misinformation are positively associated with online political engagement. We find that younger citizens are more actively engaged in online political activities. However, we also find that perceived exposure to misinformation has varying effects on political engagement across age groups. More frequent perceived exposure to misinformation is found to be a mobilizer for online political engagement for the older population. We conclude with a discussion of how social media may facilitate greater engagement for the older population. Still, the mobilizing role of misinformation exposure raises concerns about the consequences of such political engagement. Theoretical implications for political engagement research, in general and in the countries under study, are discussed. 2023-09-19T01:38:46Z 2023-09-19T01:38:46Z 2023 Journal Article Ahmed, S., Madrid-Morales, D. & Tully, M. (2023). Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement. Journal of Information Technology and Politics, 20(3), 269-285. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2022.2096743 1933-1681 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170536 10.1080/19331681.2022.2096743 2-s2.0-85133607423 3 20 269 285 en Journal of Information Technology and Politics © 2022 Taylor & Francis. 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::Communication
Political Engagement
Survey
spellingShingle Social sciences::Communication
Political Engagement
Survey
Ahmed, Saifuddin
Madrid-Morales, Dani
Tully, Melissa
Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement
description This study explores the role of political information seeking on social media and perceived exposure to misinformation in influencing online political engagement. A survey investigation of three Sub-Saharan African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa) suggests that both information seeking and perceived exposure to misinformation are positively associated with online political engagement. We find that younger citizens are more actively engaged in online political activities. However, we also find that perceived exposure to misinformation has varying effects on political engagement across age groups. More frequent perceived exposure to misinformation is found to be a mobilizer for online political engagement for the older population. We conclude with a discussion of how social media may facilitate greater engagement for the older population. Still, the mobilizing role of misinformation exposure raises concerns about the consequences of such political engagement. Theoretical implications for political engagement research, in general and in the countries under study, are discussed.
author2 Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
author_facet Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Ahmed, Saifuddin
Madrid-Morales, Dani
Tully, Melissa
format Article
author Ahmed, Saifuddin
Madrid-Morales, Dani
Tully, Melissa
author_sort Ahmed, Saifuddin
title Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement
title_short Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement
title_full Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement
title_fullStr Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement
title_full_unstemmed Social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement
title_sort social media, misinformation, and age inequality in online political engagement
publishDate 2023
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170536
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