Comportement politique/sociologie

F19 - Social Media, Politics, and Influence / Médias sociaux, politique et influence

Date: Jun 5 | Heure: 01:45pm to 03:15pm | Salle:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Quinn Albaugh (Queens University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Feodor Snagovsky (University of Alberta)

Evaluating the reach and impacts of misinformation interventions on social media: Mathieu Lavigne (Dartmouth College), Brendan Nyhan (Dartmouth College), Rocio Titiunik (Princeton University), Jack Andolina (Dartmouth College)
Abstract: Despite widespread concern over misinformation on social media, reliable estimates of exposure and engagement with such content, as well as the reach and impacts of interventions, remain limited. We use data collected during the 2020 U.S. presidential election from all active U.S. adults on Facebook and Instagram to measure exposure to and engagement with election fraud and pro-insurrection content. We first analyze sources of exposure (e.g., politicians, untrustworthy sources, closed groups) and variations in exposure and engagement levels based on individual characteristics (e.g., ideology, prior beliefs in fraud). We then evaluate the scope of interventions by examining the proportion of election fraud and pro-insurrection content – along with exposure and engagement levels – that included fact-checking or information labels, was removed for policy violation, or originated from accounts later suspended from the platform. Finally, we assess the effect of these interventions in two ways: 1) we use a regression discontinuity design to measure the effects of labels on exposure and engagement, and 2) we quantify how attitudes towards and uses of mainstream and alternative social media platforms changed after Trump's suspension. The findings have important implications for assessing and enhancing our response to political misinformation.

Disentangling Misinformation from Subjective Evaluations: The Impact of Climate Change Misinformation on Environmental Policy Attitudes: Jan Eckardt (The University of Western Ontario), Mathieu Turgeon (The University of Western Ontario), Alvaro J. Pereira Filho (The University of Western Ontario)
Abstract: Misinformation about climate change is associated with attitudes toward policies aimed at mitigating it. However, previous studies have focused mainly on subjective perceptions of climate change, failing to distinguish these from objectively false misinformation. This likely inflates associations with political variables, since respondents may agree with claims they know to be factually wrong if they align with their ideology. Moreover, little is known about whether different dimensions of misinformation about climate change are associated with attitudes on environmental policy. To address these gaps, we field surveys in Canada, the US, and Japan that examine political predictors and outcomes of being misinformed about climate change. This is done using a new questionnaire to measure misinformation on the existence, causes, impacts, responses to and science of climate change. In addition, we embed an experiment that contrasts questions prompting subjective evaluations with questions assessing the truthfulness of objective facts. This approach provides a comprehensive overview of the associations between misinformation and policy stances, while distinguishing these relationships from those driven by ideology or partisan cheerleading. In doing so, we provide a clearer picture of the relationship between the multiple dimensions of misinformation about climate change and environmental policy preferences. More generally, we also highlight potential biases that arise from conflating misinformation with ideologically driven subjective evaluations.

The Changing Structure and Tone of Politics: Deep Dive into Social Media, Culture, and Political Communication: Vincent Raynauld (Emerson College), Mireille Lalancette (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières)
Abstract: While a large volume of research has been conducted on social media-based political messaging in and out of elections in Canada and internationally, much less work has been conducted on the cultural dimensions of this appeal. In many ways, elements of culture have become a cornerstone of contemporary political communication. In fact, the progressive mediatization of all aspects of the political process over the last decades have led to the personalization and the “culturalization” of politics, especially in the social mediascape with the growing presence of memetic content and influencer input. In sum, lifestyle, pop culture, and other artistic content (e.g., music, humor, dances) - among other elements of culture - are emerging as important aspects of political actors’ communication tool chest to capture members of the public’s attention in a high-velocity, eclectic political mediascape as well as engage with them in a more personal, affective, and memorable ways. Ahead of the development of more research projects, this paper maps this gap in the academic literature by offering a scoping review of scholarly works published internationally that are examining the role of culture in the social media-based political communication process. This review takes a particular interest in existing conceptual and theoretical frameworks, trending research questions and methodologies, and specific research opportunities. In doing so, it charts the path to studying the role of culture in all aspects of political appeals on social media, an area of research likely to gain traction over the next decades.