Is Facebook Eroding the Public Agenda? Evidence from Survey and Web-Tracking Data

Ana S Cardenal, Carol Galais, Silvia Majó-Vázquez

Research output: Contribution to JournalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Preserving a common public agenda positively affects social integration, minimizing social cleavages and polarization. Although social media are known for fragmenting the media environment, research has not devoted much attention to their effect on the public agenda. This article addresses whether consuming news through Facebook shapes individual agendas that diverge from the set of most important problems (MIPs) as perceived by the general public. Our research design combines survey and Web-tracking data to analyze how Facebook-referred news consumption influences individual consumers' agendas. We find that when Facebook is a relevant news referral, people are less likely to mention the top MIPs for a representative sample of the Spanish population. We discuss the implications of our findings for the public agenda.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)589-608
JournalInternational Journal of Public Opinion Research
Volume31
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Feb 2019
Externally publishedYes

Funding

The authors acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant number CSO2013-47082). Carol Galais holds a Ramón y Cajal fellowship awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (2018-2024) at the Political Science and Public Law department of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Her research interests include political socialization processes, sense of civic duty and political participation.

FundersFunder number
Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónCSO2013-47082
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad2018-2024

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