: What is the effect of social media on democratic deliberation?
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Government
Abstract
1. Which political elites are we more likely to hear on Twitter? Does the platform create an environment which favours politicians of a certain type, or from a particular place on the ideological compass?
Twitter is increasingly where the UK's decision makers are, with over 90% of MPs elected in the 2017 General Election active on the platform. Effectively functioning as both a social network and a media broadcast platform, Twitter now allows politicians to largely bypass the mainstream media and broadcast unfiltered messages directly to their constituents and beyond.
However, if we accept that elite polarisation can increase mass political polarisation (Hetherington 2002; Abramowitz & Saunders 2008), data available via the elite-led medium of Twitter affords us a unique opportunity to study the role played by politicians in shaping online articulations of political ideology, the quality of contemporary public discourse, and its effect on our democratic polity.
While studies have focused on a qualitative examination of the content of tweets made by political elites (Jackson and Lilleker, 2011, Graham et al., 2013; Engesser et al. 2016), few have drawn a correlation with political ideology. Consequently, I propose a multi-stage approach which will address these questions
2. What is the role of political elites in spreading disinformation, which topics are they more likely to spread, and does this 'fake news' remain within homogeneous ideological communities?
One of the greatest threats to democratic institutions and the quality of political discussion is the proliferation of "fake news" or misinformation, particularly of the type motivated by political goals. I propose a cross-platform study of Facebook and Twitter to investigate the role of political elites in the dissemination of misleading or false information. This would attempt to address:
Which politicians (for example, which party, ideological persuasion) are more likely to spread misinformation?
Which topic areas within political fake news are more, less, or as likely to spread? If they spread, do they stay within homogenous political communities?
Twitter is increasingly where the UK's decision makers are, with over 90% of MPs elected in the 2017 General Election active on the platform. Effectively functioning as both a social network and a media broadcast platform, Twitter now allows politicians to largely bypass the mainstream media and broadcast unfiltered messages directly to their constituents and beyond.
However, if we accept that elite polarisation can increase mass political polarisation (Hetherington 2002; Abramowitz & Saunders 2008), data available via the elite-led medium of Twitter affords us a unique opportunity to study the role played by politicians in shaping online articulations of political ideology, the quality of contemporary public discourse, and its effect on our democratic polity.
While studies have focused on a qualitative examination of the content of tweets made by political elites (Jackson and Lilleker, 2011, Graham et al., 2013; Engesser et al. 2016), few have drawn a correlation with political ideology. Consequently, I propose a multi-stage approach which will address these questions
2. What is the role of political elites in spreading disinformation, which topics are they more likely to spread, and does this 'fake news' remain within homogeneous ideological communities?
One of the greatest threats to democratic institutions and the quality of political discussion is the proliferation of "fake news" or misinformation, particularly of the type motivated by political goals. I propose a cross-platform study of Facebook and Twitter to investigate the role of political elites in the dissemination of misleading or false information. This would attempt to address:
Which politicians (for example, which party, ideological persuasion) are more likely to spread misinformation?
Which topic areas within political fake news are more, less, or as likely to spread? If they spread, do they stay within homogenous political communities?
People |
ORCID iD |
| Sara Hobolt (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Nicholas Lewis (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000622/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2480098 | Studentship | ES/P000622/1 | 01/10/2020 | 30/09/2024 | Nicholas Lewis |