The Political Consequences of Online Disagreement: The Filtering of Communication Networks in a Polarized Political Context

Xinzhi Zhang*, Wan-Ying Lin, William H. Dutton

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
52 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

The present study challenges prevailing beliefs and research on the role of social media in supporting deliberation and an active public sphere. Based on a two-wave online panel survey (n = 791) of the adult population of Hong Kong, as one case of a politically polarized society, we examine the degree to which individuals disconnect from those with whom they politically disagree with on social media. The analysis indicates that exposure to disagreement does indeed lead people to filter their information repertoire by disconnecting from those with whom they disagree. A moderated mediation analysis finds that political disagreement indirectly influenced activist participation through information repertoire filtration. However, in contrast to expectations, this effect was stronger when individuals had a lower level of affective polarization. Our findings underscore the value of focusing on the behavior of users to complement research on access to information about politics.
Original languageEnglish
JournalSocial Media and Society
Volume8
Issue number3
Online published22 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

Funding

This work is supported by the General Research Fund (GRF) by the Research Grants Council (RGC) in the Hong Kong SAR (project no.: 12609319).

Research Keywords

  • affective polarization
  • information repertoire filtration
  • political disagreement
  • political participation

Publisher's Copyright Statement

  • This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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