Homophily, Polarization, and Unfriending During Elections in Israel and the United States

• In Event: Democracy on the Brink: Communication and Civic Culture in Fragmented, Polarized, and Contentious Societies

Abstract

It has been argued that unfriending is an act aimed at producing an environment cleaned of voices that are experienced as politically offensive. As such, unfriending is yet another manifestation of political homophily, much like other political behaviors which, some have claimed, have characterized the past decade. The objective of this research is to position the phenomenon of unfriending within broader discussions about homophily and polarization. To this end, we present two case studies, both of which center around elections. Elections are a crucial political event when democratic discourse is crucially important. At the same time, however, polarization and political divides increase. In the first case study, the Israeli general elections of 2015, we examine the motivations of people who unfriended, and perceptions of unfriending among those who did not. This enables us to ask whether unfriending, similarly to other forms of political homophily, is aimed at producing a sphere purged of dissonance to the user’s advantage. Or is it actually a new kind of outward-facing political act, aimed at signaling to others what is politically appropriate? Our findings show that unfriending is primarily aimed at producing homophily, and that it is not an act of communication aimed at conveying a political opinion. However, while those who actually unfriended did it for their own sake, others perceived the act as making a political statement. Given this, in the second study – of unfriending during the US presidential elections of 2016 – we ask whether unfriending is related to other behaviors aimed at producing a homogeneous space, and whether it is related to polarization. The findings suggest that while unfriending was not linked to other homophilic behaviors, such as selective approach (preference of likeminded media), it was associated with affective polarization towards supporters of the other candidate. Interestingly, though, affective polarization at the candidate level had little to do with unfriending. Results are discussed in term of norms of political discourse online.

Authors

• Shira Dvir-Gvirsman, Tel Aviv U

• R. Kelly Garrett, Ohio State U

• Nicholas A. John, The Hebrew U of Jerusalem