Online Discussions, Incivility and Selective Avoidance on
Social Networking Sites as Pathways to Polarization in Czechia

k 2022

Online Discussions, Incivility and Selective Avoidance on Social Networking Sites as Pathways to Polarization in Czechia

MACKOVÁ, Alena a Martina NOVOTNÁ

Základní údaje

Originální název

Online Discussions, Incivility and Selective Avoidance on Social Networking Sites as Pathways to Polarization in Czechia

Autoři

MACKOVÁ, Alena a Martina NOVOTNÁ

Vydání

Media and the Illiberal Turn: Challenges to democracy and public communication in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Prezentace na konferencích

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Označené pro přenos do RIV

Organizační jednotka

Fakulta sociálních studií

Klíčová slova anglicky

Social networking sites, affective polarization, perceived polarization, counter-attitudinal exposure, incivility, politically motivated unfriending, network homogeneity

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 13. 6. 2022 11:10, Mgr. et Mgr. Alena Pospíšil Macková, Ph.D.

Anotace

V originále

In our research, we are generally interested in the role of the preferred news reception practices, of the character of (online) discussions and interactions on polarization. We examine this relationship by testing two general assumptions linking the use of the social networking sites (SNSs) with polarization through the selective exposure to pro/counter-attitudinal information. Firstly, we assume that SNSs create a diverse information environment where citizens may interact with those who hold dissimilar views. Such political exchange and cross-cutting exposure can lead to a rise of polarization, because visibility of opposite views can increase perceived social distance. Secondly, although there is little doubt that SNSs provide opportunities for citizens to engage in cross-cutting discussions, they also allow them to re-establish more homogeneous information environments via practices of selective avoidance. Such information environments, where citizens are not exposed to any attitudinally incongruent information, can also magnify distance among groups. We test a set of hypotheses on Czech survey data (N=3763) collected in 2020. The preliminary results indicate that there is no strong and unambiguous pattern regarding the general use of SNSs and polarization in Czechia. On the other hand, we found a weak connection between the practices of social filtering of news, homogenous information environment and politically motivated unfriending, experiencing incivility and polarization. It indicates that there is a weak link between the SNSs practises related to a more homogenous environment and polarization, which is in line with previous findings. At the same time, the analysis reveals a weak connection between the exposure to counter-attitudinal information and polarization (through incivility) - and it thus generally suggests rather an ambiguous (and poor) relationship between the different ways of SNSs use and polarization.

Návaznosti

GA19-24724S, projekt VaV

Název: Politická polarizace v České republice: Případ vícestranického systému

Investor: Grantová agentura ČR, Politická polarizace v České republice: Případ vícestranického systému

Citovat

MACKOVÁ, Alena a Martina NOVOTNÁ. Online Discussions, Incivility and Selective Avoidance on Social Networking Sites as Pathways to Polarization in Czechia. In Media and the Illiberal Turn: Challenges to democracy and public communication in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022.

@proceedings{1856017,
   author = {Macková, Alena and Novotná, Martina},
   booktitle = {Media and the Illiberal Turn: Challenges to democracy and public communication in light of the COVID-19 pandemic},
   keywords = {Social networking sites, affective polarization, perceived polarization, counter-attitudinal exposure, incivility, politically motivated unfriending, network homogeneity},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Online Discussions, Incivility and Selective Avoidance on Social Networking Sites as Pathways to Polarization in Czechia},
   year = {2022}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1856017
AU  - Macková, Alena - Novotná, Martina
PY  - 2022
TI  - Online Discussions, Incivility and Selective Avoidance on Social Networking Sites as Pathways to Polarization in Czechia
KW  - Social networking sites, affective polarization, perceived polarization, counter-attitudinal exposure, incivility, politically motivated unfriending, network homogeneity
N2  - In our research, we are generally interested in the role of the preferred news reception practices, of the character of (online) discussions and interactions on polarization. We examine this relationship by testing two general assumptions linking the use of the social networking sites (SNSs) with polarization through the selective exposure to pro/counter-attitudinal information. Firstly, we assume that SNSs create a diverse information environment where citizens may interact with those who hold dissimilar views. Such political exchange and cross-cutting exposure can lead to a rise of polarization, because visibility of opposite views can increase perceived social distance. Secondly, although there is little doubt that SNSs provide opportunities for citizens to engage in cross-cutting discussions, they also allow them to re-establish more homogeneous information environments via practices of selective avoidance. Such information environments, where citizens are not exposed to any attitudinally incongruent information, can also magnify distance among groups. We test a set of hypotheses on Czech survey data (N=3763) collected in 2020. The preliminary results indicate that there is no strong and unambiguous pattern regarding the general use of SNSs and polarization in Czechia. On the other hand, we found a weak connection between the practices of social filtering of news, homogenous information environment and politically motivated unfriending, experiencing incivility and polarization. It indicates that there is a weak link between the SNSs practises related to a more homogenous environment and polarization, which is in line with previous findings. At the same time, the analysis reveals a weak connection between the exposure to counter-attitudinal information and polarization (through incivility) - and it thus generally suggests rather an ambiguous (and poor) relationship between the different ways of SNSs use and polarization.
ER  -

MACKOVÁ, Alena a Martina NOVOTNÁ. Online Discussions, Incivility and Selective Avoidance on Social Networking Sites as Pathways to Polarization in Czechia. In \textit{Media and the Illiberal Turn: Challenges to democracy and public communication in light of the COVID-19 pandemic}. 2022.

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