Incidental Exposure, Selective Exposure, and Political Information Sharing: Integrating Exposure Patterns and Expression on Social Media

• In Event: New Research on Selective Exposure

Abstract

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.

Authors

• 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