Search
Program Calendar
Browse By Day
Browse By Time
Browse By Person
Browse By Room
Browse By Division
Browse By Session Type
Search Tips
Personal Schedule
Sign In
Political information sharing in social media provides citizens with opportunities to engage news and express their political views, but little is known about how different patterns of exposure to political information affect sharing. In this study, we argue research must account for multiple patterns of information exposure, including both incidental and selective exposure. Using two-wave panel survey data collected in the U.S., we examine the relationship between incidental and selective exposure and their consequent links to political information sharing, across different levels of strength of political party affiliation. Our results demonstrate that incidental exposure to counter-attitudinal information drives strong partisans to actively seek out like-minded political content, which subsequently encourages political information sharing. Weak partisans, by contrast, may share information directly as a result of encountering disagreeable information incidentally. The results highlight the need to consider both types of political information exposure when modeling citizens’ political behavior in social media.
Brian E Weeks, U of Michigan
Daniel Lane, U of Michigan
Dam Hee Kim, U of Michigan
Slgi Sage Lee, U of Michigan
Nojin Kwak, University of Michigan