Consumption Of Political Information Research Articles

Panning for gold: Comparative analysis of cross-platform approaches for automated detection of political content in textual data.

To understand and measure political information consumption in the high-choice media environment, we need new methods to trace individual interactions with online content and novel techniques to analyse and detect politics-related information. In this paper, we report the results of a comparative analysis of the performance of automated content analysis techniques for detecting political content in the German language across different platforms. Using three validation datasets, we compare the performance of three groups of detection techniques relying on dictionaries, classic supervised machine learning, and deep learning. We also examine the impact of different modes of data preprocessing on the low-cost implementations of these techniques using a large set (n = 66) of models. Our results show the limited impact of preprocessing on model performance, with the best results for less noisy data being achieved by deep learning- and classic machine learning-based models, in contrast to the more robust performance of dictionary-based models on noisy data.

The specifics of media consumption of political information by students: a regional aspect (based on the results of a sociological study)

The article presents the results of a sociological study conducted by a survey in the period from March 2022 to March 2024 by the Department of Public Relations and Applied Political Science of Kazan Federal University in order to identify the level of student interest in politics, youth preferences regarding the choice of sources of political news in the QMS, including in the media, and trust in them. Thus, based on the purpose of the study, its object is the student youth, and the subject is the specifics of the media consumption of political information by the student youth. The data obtained from the study of students' requests for the consumption of political content, its impact on the attitude of young students to politics and the institution of elections in the context of digitalization of everyday media practices are described. The methodological basis of the research was based on the analysis of media consumption by young people, as well as the level of interest in political information, its sources, and forms of presentation in social networks. The empirical base is the data from a survey of KFU students in the period from March 2022 to March 2024. The increasing influence of media systems, digital industries and technologies on all processes taking place in society has actualized the problem of optimizing interaction in the communication space in all its segments, including in the field of politics, in the processes of legitimization of power. The formation of a model of interaction between the younger generation and the government, its communication with the political elite and public administration institutions is particularly difficult. This problem is connected, on the one hand, with the high integration of young people into the digital environment, the mediatized format of socialization, and the growing multi-level demand of the younger generation for social media. On the other hand, the difficulty of establishing communication between young citizens and the authorities is due to their certain detachment from the world of politics. The results obtained indicate a low level of interest among young people in it, which is largely situational in nature, usually associated with some major events. In general, a rather low social and political activity of the new generation has been revealed, which is also recorded by numerous other researchers, since there is undoubtedly a potential interest of the younger generation in politics.

Exploring Political Participation of First-Time Malay Voters in Tik Tok

The emergence of Internet has permeated in almost every part of our lives, and the younger generations especially are the one been permeated at most. Especially in political aspect, the emergence of social media has brought the opportunity to change the way of people to experience the politics, information seeking and involved in some political activities. Furthermore, previous studies also found out the positive relationship between social media and political participation of the youth in Malaysia. However, previous studies only focus on the social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. The new and rapidly grow social media – TikTok have not been studied before in Malaysia regarding the political participation of youth in Malaysia. Moreover, previous GE15 has been reported that TikTok is the effective and efficient tool to reach the young voters, especially the first-time Malay voters that utilized by PN and PAS. This study is aimed to investigate about the role of TikTok on the political participation of the first-time Malay voters. Survey results indicates that three independent variables – TikTok Usage, Political Interest and Political Knowledge have positive significant relationship with the dependent variable – Political Participations. The analysis shown political interest is the core motivation driven the Malay voters for political participation during GE15. TikTok played a significant role in here, because most of the respondents agreed that they rely on TikTok for political information consumption during GE15, and the younger first-time voters will use TikTok more frequent than the other age categories.

Populist Radical-Right Attitudes, Political Involvement and Selective Information Consumption: Who Tunes Out and Who Prefers Attitude-Consonant Information

ABSTRACT This study seeks to understand how populist radical-right (PRR) attitudes and political involvement relate to individuals’ political information consumption and selective exposure to ideological content. The study approaches political information selection as a two-step phenomenon: first, individuals use different amounts of political information, and second, they rely on attitude-consonant information to different degrees. Results from a combination of survey measures, implicit association tests and automated text analysis of large-scale online tracking data collected in Germany and Switzerland in 2020 showed that first, political information consumption was related to political involvement but also to PRR attitudes—in different ways—in both countries. Second, our analyses revealed country variations regarding attitude-consonant online PRR exposure. Third, implicit PRR attitudes were not relevant in explaining the use of PRR content online. We discuss the relevance of moving beyond analyses of traditional news toward the breadth of political information consumption, country contexts, and naturalistic research designs.

Uticaj digitalizacije medija na političku komunikaciju u Srbiji

Success in the political power game is all about how political parties get their messages across to voters, and lately, it's become a significant issue because technological advances have turned the old one-way communication into a two-way discussion on the internet. The concept at the back of this work was to explore the mere development of the shift in attention from traditional to digital media within the political context, highlighting that this phenomenon is often ignored, as authors, due to the rapid development of the internet, have a tendency to presuppose electorate's inclination to acquire political information mainly via digital channels. Drawing such a premature and simplified conclusion is not justified because despite the surging use of digital media, traditional media such as radio and television still have a good number of adherents, so they also play a role in political dynamics. To determine the extent to which digital media have succeeded in becoming substitutes for traditional ones, we conducted research on the political information consumption preferences of Serbian voters. The research was based on the initial hypothesis that contemporary political communication should be executed mainly digitally. The survey participants responded to a series of questions related to their habits related to political news intake from various traditional media and their digital equivalents. Quantitative analysis of responses was conducted using version 26 of the SPSS software. Following this, a qualitative analysis was carried out, convincing the authors to accept the hypothesis, as the results showed that the sample leans towards the preference for digital media in the context of political information gathering. However, said preference is not overly pronounced, considering that traditional media still enjoy a significant level of popularity.

We are What We Consume: Predicting Independent Voters’ Voting Preference From Their Media Diet Color

Party identification is an important predictor of voting preference, but because a growing percentage of voters do not express any party identification, alternative ways to anticipate voting preferences are required. Partisan slants in voters’ media consumption might offer a relevant proxy. With method triangulation, the current study explores whether media consumption prior to elections can predict voting preferences among independents. Depending on the media outlets adopted by voters and their partisan skew, as detected by Bert machine learning models, the authors calculate an overall partisan slant for each voter’s political information consumption. Data from a nationwide panel survey conducted in Taiwan affirm that their media diet “color” in 2019 can predict independent voters' choices in 2020.

The role of cognitive elaboration in social media political information consumption and persuasion

The role of cognitive elaboration in social media political information consumption and persuasion

Deliberative democracy and the digital public sphere: Asymmetrical fragmentation as a political not a technological problem

Deliberative democracy and the digital public sphere: Asymmetrical fragmentation as a political not a technological problem

El consumo de información y de conversación política interactiva en las actitudes y la participación política de los jóvenes en la zona metropolitana de Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. Escenario preelectoral 2018

Traditional media (print media, radio and television) or those represented by the digital age (Internet and social networks) are suitable channels for the process represented by political communication; in turn, this is a factor that impacts on political attitudes and political participation of citizens. In correlation to the above, the main objective of this research is to determine the explanatory level of the consumption of political information and interactive political conversation against the political attitudes and participation of young people. The research design is quantitative, since an opinion poll was applied in the pre-electoral scenario 2018 in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The main results indicates that the consumption of political content online is the variable that has a higher level of explanation about the interest in the policy of the participants of the study, There is also evidence that could bring the results of the research closer to the theories of political mobilization. On the other hand, in relation to political attitudes there is a very important contrast since there is a political interest and a feeling of openness of the relatively high political system in opposition to a very marked political cynicism on the part of young people.

Pandemic Nationalism: Use of Government Social Media for Political Information and Belief in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories in China

The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories across different social media platforms. Parallel to this conspiracy wave was a heightened sense of nationalism, which manifested through both in-group solidarity and perceived out-group threats. In this study, we examine how individuals’ use of government social media to gather political information correlated with nation-related conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. Data were collected from 745 subjects in China and analyzed through path analyses, which allowed us to examine the direct association with political information consumption from government social media and the indirect association with nationalism on conspiracy beliefs. The results indicated that the use of government social media to gather political information was associated with greater beliefs in nation-variant COVID-19 conspiracies, both directly and through different mediations of nationalism. Our findings highlight the importance of examining government social media use and how nationalism can have differentiated mediation effects on beliefs in conspiracy theories.

Slideshow activism on Instagram: constructing the political activist subject

ABSTRACT An emerging activist tactic on visual-based social media such as Instagram, slideshow activism adapts the production and consumption of political information to the logic of the platform. In so doing, slideshow activism provides followers with an ideal subject position for civic engagement. By examining a popular slideshow activist Instagram account, we outline the features of this activist tactic and its mobilizing appeal. The qualitative content analysis of a sample of 50 posts reveals that slideshow activism addresses its followers as individuals who are actively staying well-informed on the social justice dimension of a wide range of political issues and are constantly engaged in self-transformation in order to become better citizens. This ideal, we argue, entrenches social justice as a core political value for civic engagement, and recommends a mix of argumentation and personal transformation as the everyday means for individuals to bring about political change. We further explore the consequences of this subject position for citizen engagement with politics.

Factors Influencing Young Malaysians’ Political Information Seeking Behaviour on Twitter

Youth participation in political discourses is an important element that needs to be looked into urgently in Malaysia. This is especially so with the historical milestone of the Undi18 constitutional amendment allowing youth from 18 years old to vote in the 15th General Election. This research was initiated to investigate the youth's behaviour in terms of attitude, awareness, and involvement in politics via social media, specifically Twitter. In this study, involvement in politics is described as youths' political information seeking behaviour on Twitter in relation to political attitudes such as political self-efficacy, situational political involvement, government trust, and processing of information, that is perceived information quality. An online survey form was disseminated across Twitter using snowball sampling for Klang Valley Twitter users aged between 18 to 30. The results garnered from 314 respondents revealed significant relationships between independent variables (self-efficacy, situational, political involvement, government trust, and information quality) and the dependent variable (Twitter motivation). It was hoped that this study would help researchers better grasp the pattern on how Malaysian youth use Twitter to get political information. This study may also provide important information on the online diffusion and consumption of political information through social media like Twitter. Keywords: Political information-seeking behaviour, processing information, youth, Twitter, Malaysia.

Political information consumption and electoral turnout during COVID: the case of the 2020 municipal elections

The effects on political participation of the consumption of political information from traditional and digital media are widely addressed in the literature. However, what happens in times of pandemic when people have other pressing concerns that are likely to receive significant media coverage? Does the consumption of political information—which increases in times of pandemic—mobilize or rather demobilize voters in local elections? By focusing on the two rounds of the French municipal elections in March and June 2020, we explore how the pandemic affected turnout through the consumption of political information distributed by official news media and users on social media during the first peak of the crisis (March 2020) and during the first period of decline in contagion rates (June 2020). Our results show that the association between consumption of political information and participation is detectable but remains less relevant than traditional predictors of turnout such as socio-demographic variables or an interest in politics. Moreover, we show that the strength of the effect of consumption of political information varies according to both the type of election and the type of political information consumption (local or national news, online or offline). Overall, it seems that the pandemic context had little effect on the relations between political information consumption and electoral participation.

THE SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FORMING POLITICAL CYNICISM

The article considers the problem of political cynicism. The content of the relevant construct and its components, as well as potential factors of the spread of political cynicism, were analyzed. An analysis of social, political (political system, ideology, political activity of the population and its attitude to politics and power) and media (distribution of scandalous, conflict-causing information about politicians, moving the focus to the affective component, nature of dissemination and consumption of such information by voters, etc.) was carried out. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of psychological factors in the formation of political cynicism (the presence of certain cognitive attitudes and prejudices regarding politics, the level of political activity, individual psychological characteristics of voters). The results of the own research of socio-psychological factors in the formation of political cynicism are presented. The general indicators of the sample were analyzed according to the scales that most represent the construct "political cynicism": interest in politics, level of trust in politicians, level of political knowledge, personal cynicism and cynical attitude towards political objects, and it was found that the sample is generally characterized by average level of political cynicism (tendency to oppose politicians to a certain extent, show distrust and disdain for them). The results of the analysis of the sample according to other psychological indicators (a measure of political participation, political identification and motivational component in politics, the ratio of external and internal locus of control, conformity and dominance) are presented, as well as the results of the analysis of the intensity and manner of the respondents' consumption of political information disseminated in the media. The relevant indicators were reflected in the regression model, which demonstrates the most likely factors in the formation of political cynicism, the most significant of which are: specifics of political and ideological self-determination (low level of authoritative self-affirmation, predominance of normative intransigence and positional competitiveness), intense, indiscriminate and uncritical consumption of political news (mainly televised), features of political activity (developed verbal-communicative component of political participation and political interest with a low behavioral-volitional component), conformism and external locus of control.

Social Media, Youths and Political Participation in Malaysia: A Review of Literature

In today’s modern world, political knowledge is not only conveyed or sought through traditional methods such as political rallies but also via social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The search for political information through social media has now become a global phenomenon. In recent years, the use of social media among youths in Malaysia has increased significantly. It is, thus, prudent to explore the use of social media platforms amongst youths in Malaysian. Therefore, this paper offers a review of studies on youth participation in politics via social media, particularly in the Malaysian context. The paper provides an overview of how Malaysian youths seek political information through social media and reviews recent information related to online resources in the political context. It was envisaged that this paper could advance our understanding of the trend and level of youth participation in politics via social media, particularly in Malaysia. Additionally, this review could provide useful information on the online dissemination and consumption of political information.

Hibridación digital en el Cono Sur: Consumo de medios tradicionales, digitales y uso de redes sociales

 This work offers an exploratory approach to the consumption of traditional and digital media and the use of social networks in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. In the first place, a brief theory is offered that contextualizes the advance of new information technologies. Subsequently, with data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and surveys with national probabilistic samples financed by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada, a descriptive analysis is carried out on the consumption of politicak information and the use of digital social networks. These three countries have high Internet penetration rates, broadband subscriptions and mobile Internet compared to other Latin American countries. Despite this, traditional channels such as television continue to predominate in the consumption of political information. Finally, the average age of digital media and network users is lower and there are certain sociodemographic differences by country. For example, Chile and Uruguay show greater concentration in their metropolitan areas, and a socioeconomic gap can be seen in Internet consumption in Argentina and Chile.

Social Media, Youths and Political Participation in Malaysia: A Review of Literature

In today’s modern world, political knowledge is not only conveyed or sought through traditional methods such as political rallies but also via social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The search for political information through social media has now become a global phenomenon. In recent years, the use of social media among youths in Malaysia has increased significantly. It is, thus, prudent to explore the use of social media platforms amongst youths in Malaysian. Therefore, this paper offers a review of studies on youth participation in politics via social media, particularly in the Malaysian context. The paper provides an overview of how Malaysian youths seek political information through social media and reviews recent information related to online resources in the political context. It was envisaged that this paper could advance our understanding of the trend and level of youth participation in politics via social media, particularly in Malaysia. Additionally, this review could provide useful information on the online dissemination and consumption of political information.

Brecha de género en el conocimiento político infantil: influencia de las redes sociales y la socialización política

El conocimiento político es un determinante esencial de la participación política ciudadana. No obstante, múltiples estudios han señalado que existe una brecha en el conocimiento político de hombres y mujeres. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo ampliar la investigación de la brecha de género a los niños mexicanos como consecuencia de la socialización política (escolar y familiar) e incluyó como factor de interés el consumo de redes sociales. Se realizó una encuesta (n = 1539) entre abril y mayo 2017 a alumnos de quinto año (10-11 años) y sexto año (12-13 años) de primaria en el estado de Nuevo León (México). Los resultados indicaron que la brecha de género no es materialmente significativa a esta edad, pero ya hay indicios de lo que se observa en la adultez. Los análisis multivariados indicaron que la socialización política y el consumo de redes sociales contribuye de diferente manera al conocimiento político de ambos géneros. El entorno con conversación política mejora el conocimiento político de las niñas, mientras el consumo de información política vía redes sociales lo disminuye. Para ambos grupos, la socialización escolar no tiene ningún efecto a esta edad. Los resultados de este estudio contribuyen a la investigación sobre el conocimiento político en el contexto latinoamericano y reconoce la repercusión política en los años formativos de los ciudadanos. Se discuten implicaciones prácticas de la socialización política y de género, así como el uso de redes sociales en el desarrollo ciudadano de niños y niñas.

Agenda melding y teorías de la comunicación: la construcción de la imagen de los actores políticos en las redes sociales

El proceso de asignación de atributos permite a los ciudadanos dotarse de esquemas de interpretación para temas, situaciones o actores que hagan comprensible la realidad que los rodea. En este sentido, la “imagen” que nos hacemos de los políticos deriva principalmente del ejercicio de mediación de los medios de comunicación, pero también del diálogo y de los mensajes que emiten los distintos protagonistas de la comunicación política en las redes sociales y que la propia comunidad tiende a asimilar e interpretar. El presente trabajo realiza una revisión de la teoría de la agenda melding y de la necesidad de orientación en el contexto de la sociedad digital, en dónde las redes sociales complementan un ecosistema híbrido de información caracterizado por la primacía de la televisión para consumir información política, con una creciente importancia de plataformas como Facebook, Twitter o Instagram.

Expresión de opiniones en las redes sociales: un estudio comparado de Argentina, Chile, España y México desde la perspectiva de la espiral del silencio

ABSTRACT There is a new pattern of consumption of political information that has been generating great challenges for electoral campaigning and democracy. Using the spiral of silence theory, this paper compares the willingness to express political opinions of digital users in four Iberoamerican countries (Argentina, Chile, Spain and Mexico). The paper explores patterns on digital users silencing their political opinions as well as the relationship between unwillingness to express their opinions with ideological self-position. The research shows that the users that place themselves at the ideological extremes are those who are less concerned about expressing their true political opinions openly on the Internet. This was found both in fears of the authorities and in fear of social isolation to the same extent. In the four countries studied, men have less willingness to express their political opinions. Fear is greater among young adults (25-34 years), while younger users and those over 45 feel less social pressure.