Posted and Shared: Personalized Communication and Knowledge Gap during Election Time

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Panel: Theme Interactive Poster Session: Transforming Communicative Power Through Evolving Electorates, Technologies, Communication, and Public Opinion (2 Posters)

Abstract

The Internet has broken down access barriers to the creation and dissemination of political knowledge, fostering democracy, empowerment and equality. Yet, scholars continue to find evidence that the knowledge gap persists with new media use, even in societies with increasingly sophisticated internet users. In Singapore, though political information produced by alternative media sites facilitated greater knowledge gain among lower educated voters, the amount of knowledge gained from alternative media was limited by government-aligned mainstream media use. The diminishing influence of alternative media suggests that the Internet, while necessary in providing alternative political perspectives, likely still plays a secondary role to a dominant mainstream media. Reducing the knowledge gap on a sustained basis calls for more organic and ground-up political information relevant to the electorate. Social networking promotes coproduction and sharing of election content that is defined around personal lifestyle values.

Singapore’s 2015 General Election saw intensified online coverage by established mainstream and alternative news media across multiple digital platforms, as well as the entrance of a slew of individual and digital news start-ups. The combined offerings enabled voters to access, share and post election information on numerous social media apps. Election news shared or accessed, whether recommended by the apps or shared by users’ network, are most likely to have more relevance to voters, and can reduce the knowledge gap. Drawing from Bennett and Segerberg’s theory of connective action, personalised communication refers to the production and sharing of political content based on personal values through various personal communication technologies. This study presents comparative findings on the extent of personalized communication according to social class during the election, and the influence of personalized communication on the political knowledge gap.

Author

• Debbie Goh, Nanyang Technological University