Open media or echo chamber: the use of links in audience discussions on the Facebook Pages of partisan news organizations |
| |
| Authors: | Susan Jacobson Eunyoung Myung Steven L. Johnson |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Florida International University, 3000 NE 151 Street, Academic 2, North Miami, FL 33181, USA;2. School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5115 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA;3. McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia, 125 Ruppel Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the use of hyperlinks in audience discussions on the Facebook Pages of two partisan cable news organizations: the liberal-leaning Rachel Maddow Show and the conservative O'Reilly Factor, to investigate to what extent linking might intensify partisan political discussion or infuse a variety of perspectives into online communication. The results suggest that these Facebook audiences show a preference for a small group of information resources; furthermore, the two audiences shared an even smaller number of information resources in common. The findings support previous research that suggests a relatively small number of information resources receive most of the news audience traffic, and provide some support for other studies that indicate that partisan political discussions on social media are segregated by political orientation. |
| |
| Keywords: | social media Facebook political communication journalism filter bubble hypertext selective exposure |
|
|
