Abstract
This study investigated the effects of fear of isolation (FOI) on political content consumption and creation in the context of online communication. Using more than 1,000 respondents from South Korea, the study empirically tested a theoretical model of FOI on political content consumption and expressions with two mediators (i.e., attention/status-seeking, and anonymity-seeking). Results indicated that FOI is related to seeking attention and status in political outlets also connected to anonymity-preference that leads to political expression. Implications for political communication scholarship and for practitioners are that voters’ political participations can be understood in a framework different from traditional focus on persuasion, political ideology, or demographics because—in today’s virtual and interactive media environment—users are more content consumers or community participants.
Highlights
On March 10, 2017, South Korea’s Constitutional Court unanimously decided in favor of the impeachment of -President Park Geun-hye
We believe this study explores a new framework of political psychology that goes beyond conventional paradigms and contributes to a better understanding of anonymous and attention-seeking online behaviors in politics-based news consumption and conversation
This study implies that fear of isolation (FOI) be a major predictor for active news engagement online
Summary
On March 10, 2017, South Korea’s Constitutional Court unanimously decided in favor of the impeachment of -President Park Geun-hye Her involvement in corruption and scandalous ties to her aides had sparked national uproar, fostering an unprecedented level of political participation in which, inter alia, the public gathered en masse on streets and in public squares for candlelight vigil protests, in unprecedented numbers (Lim, 2016). Another notable phenomenon could be found in online news consumption and discourse. As for other online platforms, eight of the top ten most listened-to podcasts are about politics (Podbbang, 2017)
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