Sharing and Commenting Facilitate Political Learning on Facebook: Evidence From a Two-Wave Panel Study

Dam Hee Kim, Brian E. Weeks, Daniel S. Lane, Lauren B. Hahn, Nojin Kwak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish (US)
JournalSocial Media and Society
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Facebook
  • communication mediation model
  • political expression
  • political knowledge
  • social media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • Communication
  • Computer Science Applications

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