Abstract
Social media, as sources of political news and sites of political discussion, may be novel environments for political learning. Many early reports, however, failed to find that social media use promotes gains in political knowledge. Prior research has not yet fully explored the possibility based on the communication mediation model that exposure to political information on social media facilitates political expression, which may subsequently encourage political learning. We find support for this mediation model in the context of Facebook by analyzing a two-wave survey prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In particular, sharing and commenting, not liking or opinion posting, may facilitate political knowledge gains.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | Social Media and Society |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- communication mediation model
- political expression
- political knowledge
- social media
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cultural Studies
- Communication
- Computer Science Applications