Political Immersion and Stereotyping: How 360º Video Reinforces Partisan Leaning

• In Event: Visuals and Technology in 20/20

Abstract

New technologies are revolutionizing the way that politics are viewed and experienced. Through social media platforms, candidates are communicating with followers in unprecedented ways, and through innovations in camera technology, new vistas on political events are opening to anyone with a 360-degree camera and Google Cardboard headset. One of the most consequential but least researched new technologies involves 360-degree video presentations of political events. Compared to fixed format (standard) video presentations, 360-degree depictions have been found to heighten emotional and perceptual responses in viewers while minimizing concerns about media framing (Archer & Finger, 2018; Bucy, 2019). But little research has studied the influence of immersive camera technology in expressly partisan contexts.
This study uses original 360-degree footage of campaign rallies by Senator Ted Cruz and then US Senate-candidate Beto O’Rourke to explore the effects of immersive presentations in the context of visual political communication. For the study, contrasting scenes from campaign events in west Texas were presented to viewers in standard and 360-video format that either showed Beto O’Rourke speaking passionately about health care or an Obamacare protestor being removed from a Ted Cruz rally. The footage was shown to four focus groups (each with 5 or 6 participants), two consisting of liberal leaning viewers and two consisting of conservative participants. Engaging with the concepts of stereotype activation and expectancy violation theory, the research analyzes how Democratic and Republican supporters process 360-degree videos of these contrasting political events. Data for the study consist of transcriptions from the focus groups, which were analyzed for emergent themes.
Initial analysis indicates that participant comments group into two broad categories of response. First, 360-degree presentations generated more discussion and a broader range of emotional and perceptual responses than fixed-frame videos of the same events. Participants described a variety of emotions, such as immersion, proximity, a sense of presence, a feelings of enhanced control over the experience, and also the fear of missing out. Second, partisan identification and ideology seemed to play a stronger role in interpreting and guiding participant interpretations in the 360-degree conditions. Focus group participants who self-identified as Democrats noticed more positive body language and nonverbal cues from the Democratic candidate (O’Rourke) while wanting to intervene to support the Obamacare protestor at the Ted Cruz rally. Conservative viewers, on the other hand, noticed more negative visual cues that supported their disapproval of O’Rourke in his campaign video, while acting defensively towards the actions of officials at the Cruz rally who removed the protestor while the cameras were recording. These effects were much less salient in the standard video depictions of both events.
Practical and theoretical implications of the study are two-fold. First, experiencing political events in a 360-degree format is likely to generate stronger feelings and partisan perceptions among voters than conventional video portrayals. Participants reported that they felt like they were almost physically present at the event, as if they were an insider. Some participants described how they scrutinized attendees at the rally and how they were able to see people’s faces close-up. Having more choices of perspectives in the 360-degree presentation made some participants feel like they had enhanced control because they were able to scan the whole event scene rather than observe from a fixed perspective and pursue any visual angle that piqued their interest; thus, they were able to craft their own visual narrative. Through variable perspective of the 360-degree video, participants were able to look around the room, at the speaker, at audience members, and at signs individuals held in their hands, on their own pace and in their own order. This made them feel as if they had more agency.
Theoretically, this paper makes contribution to the literature on political stereotyping and expectancy violation model. Although, previous studies on 360-degree presentation discovered some positive violations of viewer expectations, such as higher acceptance for those who march for women’s rights (Bucy, 2019) and an increased sense of responsibility in closing the gender gap (Aitamurto et al., 2018), that was not the case in this study. When 360-degree portrayals were shown in the context of a highly contested senate race to clearly partisan viewers, participants relied on their partisan leanings to seek out visual confirmation of their established political view. Furthermore, by acting as visual partisan sleuths, these loyal supporters found more cues to discredit the opposition party by finding and describing visual cues that supported their political stereotypes and beliefs.

Authors

• Uyanga Bazaa, Texas Tech University

• Erik P. Bucy, Texas Tech University