One-sided exposure to political news on Facebook due to ideological segregation.
The study examines exposure to political news on Facebook during the US 2020 election among 208 million US users. The research analyzes the inventory of political news content available, what users actually saw in their feeds, and what content they engaged with. The study reveals high levels of ideological segregation, which increases from potential exposure to actual exposure to engagement. There is an asymmetry between conservative and liberal audiences, with a significant portion of the news consumed exclusively by conservatives. Most misinformation, identified through Meta's fact-checking program, exists within the conservative segment with no equivalent on the liberal side. Sources favored by conservative audiences are more prevalent on Facebook than those favored by liberals.
Social media platforms play a crucial role in shaping information access, especially in the realm of politics. The study fills a gap in mapping the information ecosystem within platforms like Facebook, emphasizing within-platform attention and consumption. Past research has focused on web-browsing data, lacking data on news consumption within platforms. The study overcomes previous limitations by examining individual exposure to content and comparing findings across different internet-based modalities.
The research addresses six key research questions, exploring the level of ideological segregation in news consumption, variations in segregation based on potential exposure, actual exposure, and engagement, and the prevalence of exposure to unreliable content on the right compared to the left. The study provides a comprehensive picture of the information environment on Facebook during the 2020 election, highlighting the role of algorithmic and social amplification in increasing ideological segregation.
The study identifies asymmetries in news consumption on Facebook, showing a higher degree of segregation on the right side of the political spectrum compared to the left. The analysis of coexposure networks reveals evidence of selective exposure, with clusters organized around predominantly liberal or conservative audiences. The study emphasizes the influence of Pages and Groups in shaping the online information environment, indicating that content from these sources contributes significantly to ideological segregation.
Overall, the research sheds light on the complex interplay between individual preferences, platform affordances, and the curation of content on Facebook. The findings have implications for understanding how social media platforms influence information consumption and polarization, particularly with regard to exposure to misinformation. The study's robust methodology and collaboration between industry and academic researchers set a precedent for transparent and reproducible research in the digital age.
Social media platforms play a crucial role in shaping information access, especially in the realm of politics. The study fills a gap in mapping the information ecosystem within platforms like Facebook, emphasizing within-platform attention and consumption. Past research has focused on web-browsing data, lacking data on news consumption within platforms. The study overcomes previous limitations by examining individual exposure to content and comparing findings across different internet-based modalities.
The research addresses six key research questions, exploring the level of ideological segregation in news consumption, variations in segregation based on potential exposure, actual exposure, and engagement, and the prevalence of exposure to unreliable content on the right compared to the left. The study provides a comprehensive picture of the information environment on Facebook during the 2020 election, highlighting the role of algorithmic and social amplification in increasing ideological segregation.
The study identifies asymmetries in news consumption on Facebook, showing a higher degree of segregation on the right side of the political spectrum compared to the left. The analysis of coexposure networks reveals evidence of selective exposure, with clusters organized around predominantly liberal or conservative audiences. The study emphasizes the influence of Pages and Groups in shaping the online information environment, indicating that content from these sources contributes significantly to ideological segregation.
Overall, the research sheds light on the complex interplay between individual preferences, platform affordances, and the curation of content on Facebook. The findings have implications for understanding how social media platforms influence information consumption and polarization, particularly with regard to exposure to misinformation. The study's robust methodology and collaboration between industry and academic researchers set a precedent for transparent and reproducible research in the digital age.
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