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Series:   Elements in Politics and Communication

Social Media Democracy Mirage

How Social Media News Fuels a Politically Uninformed Participatory Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2024

Homero Gil de Zúñiga ,
Hugo Marcos Marné ,
Manuel Goyanes  and
Rebecca Scheffauer
Homero Gil de Zúñiga
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca, Spain and Pennsylvania State University
Hugo Marcos Marné
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
Manuel Goyanes
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
Rebecca Scheffauer
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca, Spain

Summary

For over two decades, political communication research has hailed the potentially reinvigorating effect of social media on democracy. Social media was expected to provide new opportunities for people to learn about politics and public affairs, and to participate politically. Building on two systematic literature reviews on social media, and its effects on political participation and knowledge (2000–2020), and introducing empirical evidence drawing on four original US survey data that expands for over a decade (2009–2020), this Element contends that social media has only partially fulfilled this tenet, producing a Social Media Democracy Mirage. That is, social media have led to a socio-political paradox in which people are more participatory than ever, yet not necessarily more informed.
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Keywords

social mediapolitical participationpolitical knowledgesocial networking sitessystematic literature review
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Politics and Communication
Online ISBN: 9781009053266
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 19 December 2024

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