Social Media and Offline Conversation: Putting Political Discussion in Context

• In Event: 022 - Regular Session. Internet and Society

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the use of social media, attitudinal strength, perceived opinion agreement with social ties, and willingness to discuss a political issue in different online and offline contexts. Unlike the anonymous environment of internet forums in previous generations, social media are closely tied to the activities of everyday life. Social media increasingly make ties from offline contexts persistent online, and, because of the ambient nature of these technologies, awareness of the opinions, interests, and activities of social ties has become pervasive. As such, use of social media is likely to affect everyday conversation about political issues in on- and offline contexts, including the home, workplace, social gatherings with friends, community meetings, and on social network sites. Based on a national probability survey, we find that the use of social network sites (i.e., Facebook and Twitter) has a direct, negative relationship on deliberation in many offline settings. Some uses of these platforms are associated with having a lower, perceived opinion agreement with social ties. As part of a spiral of silence, this further reduces the willingness of social media users to join political conversations in some offline settings. Only those with the strongest attitudes on an issue are immune. We explore the possible role of algorithms and opinion silos in our finding that exposure to political information through social network sites is related to higher perceived agreement with social media followers and willingness to discuss political issues through social media.

Authors

• Keith N. Hampton, Michigan State University

• Inyoung Shin, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers

• Weixu Lu, Rutgers University