Abstract
The way citizens use technology has changed dramatically in just the last decade; nearly one-third of American adults own tablets, and almost a half own smartphones. But it is not just ownership that is on the rise; citizens are increasingly using such technology to communicate about and participate in politics. The present study utilized a multimethod approach to tap into how technology affects citizens’ political behaviors online in the context of the 2012 U.S. Presidential primary season. Compiling survey data with tablet-tracking behavior in a field experiment, results showed that users spent more days with online aggregators (such as Google and Yahoo), recreational sites (like games), and social interaction sites than news and politics. But when they did spend time with news and politics, they spent an average of 10 minutes on each news page, and national/regional news was the most visited subtopic. User-specific descriptive analyses provide portraits of each user’s demographic makeup and online political behavior. Finally, we linked user ideology to user behavior through accurate, real-time behavioral observations. Results suggest that participants are more likely to view news from their own ideological perspective than the other, demonstrating evidence for selective exposure.
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