Do Social Media Matter?

Abstract

Abstract Political experiences on social media—such as being targeted by electoral mobilization, seeing politically supportive messages, and accidentally encountering news—contribute to citizens’ repertoires of political participation. These associations are, on average, stronger for electoral mobilization than for accidental exposure, while exposure to supportive political content lies in between. Political experiences on social media do not disproportionally encourage participation in relatively easier, less resource-intensive activities, nor in activities primarily occurring in digital spaces, but foster hybrid participatory repertoires that combine higher-threshold and lower-threshold endeavors occurring both online and face to face. When placed amid the many different factors that affect participation, political experiences on social media play a distinctive and important role. However, their impact may be weaker than that of long-standing differences in resources and motivations among different groups of citizens.