Essays on Incidental News Consumption on Social Media Platforms

It has long been established in the academic literature that individuals form opinions based on information from two types of channels: their network of family, friends and acquaintances as well as external media sources such as newspapers or television. With the rise of social media platforms in the 21st century, the boundaries between these two types of information channels have become blurred. While, previously, individuals used social media to communicate, consume user-generated content and entertain themselves, these social media platforms now also serve as a source of news for many.

However, the majority of individuals do not actively use social media to obtain news. In fact, news consumption on social media platforms is mostly a by-product of individuals spending time on social media for other purposes (Fletcher and Nielsen, 2018; Boczkowski et al., 2017). Yet only recently have scholars begun to analyse the specific link between this incidental news consumption on social media platforms and outcomes such as political participation.

My research seeks to elicit the extent to which individuals critically engage with the news appearing on their social media feeds and the potential of incidental news consumption to foster democratic participation. Examining the manner in which individuals consume news on social media is crucial to understand the implications for the evolution of knowledge and polarisation in society. On the one hand, it is conceivable that incidental exposure to news on social media
platforms can strengthen democratic societies by increasing news consumption overall and widening the spectrum of individuals that engage with societal issues and establish informed opinions. However, this view that more news consumption is invariably beneficial for democratic societies does not consider the quality of incidental news relative to other news sources. It is equally conceivable that individuals merely adopt their friends opinions as a result of social pressure, which could lead to the emergence of echo chambers and polarisation as well as reduce diversity of opinion in society.