TY - JOUR
T1 - The contribution of social network sites to exposure to political difference
T2 - The relationships among SNSs, online political messaging, and exposure to cross-cutting perspectives
AU - Kim, Yonghwan
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - The increasing popularity of social network sites (SNSs) has raised questions about the role of social network media in the democratic process. This study explores how use of SNSs influences individuals' exposure to political difference. The findings show a positive and significant relationship between SNSs and exposure to challenging viewpoints, supporting the idea that SNSs contribute to individuals' exposure to cross-cutting political points of view. Partisanship was not found to interact with SNS use, suggesting that SNSs contribute to expanding exposure to dissimilar political views across individuals' partisanship. Online political messaging also has a direct effect on exposure to dissimilar viewpoints, and it mediates the association between SNSs and exposure to cross-cutting political views.
AB - The increasing popularity of social network sites (SNSs) has raised questions about the role of social network media in the democratic process. This study explores how use of SNSs influences individuals' exposure to political difference. The findings show a positive and significant relationship between SNSs and exposure to challenging viewpoints, supporting the idea that SNSs contribute to individuals' exposure to cross-cutting political points of view. Partisanship was not found to interact with SNS use, suggesting that SNSs contribute to expanding exposure to dissimilar political views across individuals' partisanship. Online political messaging also has a direct effect on exposure to dissimilar viewpoints, and it mediates the association between SNSs and exposure to cross-cutting political views.
KW - Exposure to cross-cutting viewpoints
KW - Internet
KW - Online political messaging
KW - Political difference
KW - Social network sites
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79551500567&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chb.2010.12.001
DO - 10.1016/j.chb.2010.12.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79551500567
SN - 0747-5632
VL - 27
SP - 971
EP - 977
JO - Computers in Human Behavior
JF - Computers in Human Behavior
IS - 2
ER -