Are Online Political Influencers Accelerating Democratic Deconsolidation?

Media and Communication

article

Rachel Gibson¹  Esmeralda Bon¹  Philipp Darius²  Peter Smyth³ 

[1] Department of Politics, University of Manchester;Center for Digital Governance, Hertie School;Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research, University of Manchester

关键词: democratic deconsolidation;    digital campaigning;    micro-influencers;    online election;    online influencers;    social media;   

DOI  :  10.17645/mac.v11i3.6813

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Cogitatio Press

【 摘 要 】

Social media campaigning is increasingly linked with anti-democratic outcomes, with concerns to date centring on paid adverts, rather than organic content produced by a new set of online political influencers. This study systematically compares voter exposure to these new campaign actors with candidate-sponsored ads, as well as established and alternative news sources during the US 2020 presidential election. Specifically, we examine how far higher exposure to these sources is linked with key trends identified in the democratic deconsolidation thesis. We use data from a national YouGov survey designed to measure digital campaign exposure to test our hypotheses. Findings show that while higher exposure to online political influencers is linked to more extremist opinions, followers are not disengaging from conventional politics. Exposure to paid political ads, however, is confirmed as a potential source of growing distrust in political institutions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY