Awareness of Political Alignment of Twitter-Networks

• In Event: Advances in Analysis of Twitter Data

Abstract

A frequently discussed dilemma concerning online media consumption are so-called “echo chambers”: is the information environment of Internet-users increasingly one-sided due to factors such as homophily and selective exposure? While much research has been devoted to the scope and penetration of echo chambers and the potential effects of counter-attitudinal exposure, there is a research gap when it comes to the perceptions of the Internet-users themselves. How do consumers view their information environments and are they aware of how politically slanted those environments are? We argue that such awareness is a core-determinant when evaluating the potential impact of echo chambers on society because awareness of biased information flows enables conscious content selection and is therefore directly linked to the “demand” side of individuals’ Internet-consumption. By evaluating a linked survey of a representative U.S. online panel we find that a false consensus effect biases the perceptions that Twitter-users have of their information environment. At the same time, political sophistication helps users more accurately determine the political slant of their Twitter-network. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and policies on echo chambers.

Authors

• Philipp Kling, University of Konstanz

• Karsten Donnay, University of Zurich

• Pablo Barbera, University of Southern California

• Andy Guess, Princeton University

• Simon Munzert, Humboldt University of Berlin

• JungHwan Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison