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AbstractPrior literature on political filter bubbles suggests an overall positive association between social media use and political networks diversification. Sometimes, this might not be the case. This study argues that the News Finds Me perception (NFM) or the belief that "one" can be well-informed about public affairs without actively seeking information as news will find "me" through "my" networks, tend to nurture a positive attitude toward algorithmic news gatekeeping. Likewise, NFM's news over-reliance on one's social network support the development of homogeneous information and discussion political networks in social media (political homophily). Results based on a variety of ordinary least squares regression models (cross-sectional, lagged, and autoregressive) from a U.S. representative panel survey, as we all as autoregressive structural equation model tests, indicate that this is indeed the case. This study serves to specifically clarify when and how social media and the NFM facilitate politically homogeneous filter bubbles.

In a world of polarized societies and radical voices hogging the public digital sphere, this thematic issue aims at identifying the different strategies of old and new social movements in the extremes of the political debates by focusing on the interplay between polarization, uses of the internet, and social activism. In order to disentangle these interactions, this thematic issue covers a wide range of political settings across the globe. It does so by studying: (a) how opposing activists discuss politics online and its implications for democratic theory; (b) how social media uses and online discussions foster offline protests; (c) how the media and state-led-propaganda frame disruptive and anti-government offline protests and how this situation contributes to polarization in both democratic and non-democratic regimes; and finally (d) how civil society uses digital tools to organize and mobilize around sensitive issues in non-democratic regimes.

Objectives Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens' personality in activating political behavior. We test whether extraversion is associated to collective political activities (i.e., activities that include social interaction) and individual ones (i.e., activities that do not include social interactions). Methods We use originally collected survey data from five countries (Brazil, Korea, Russia, United States, United Kingdom). Results We found that extraversion is positively and directly related to collective political activities in Brazil, Korea and Russia. Results show no direct relationship between individual forms of political activities and extraversion. However, political discussion fully mediates the relationship between extraversion and individual forms of political activities in all five countries. Conclusion This study contributes to growing discussions on the role of personality traits in explaining political participation across countries, arguing that the relationship between extraversion and diverse forms of political participation are also context-driven and nourished by political discussion.

With the advent of social media, political communication scholars have systematically revised theories and empirical corollaries revolving media use and democracy at large. Interestingly, in about the same period of time, a reinvigorated political populism trend has taken place across different latitudes in the world. This widespread populist movement has expanded regardless of whether these political systems were established democracies, emerging democracies, or societies immersed in political contexts at peril. This essay serves as the introductory piece to a special issue on populism. First, it highlights the ways in which "populism," being an old phenomenon, has further transpired into the political realm in the era of social media. Second, the essay seeks to better contextualize what populism is and how it has developed within today's hybrid media society. Finally, this introduction also lays out the ground to six central theoretical and data-driven papers that encapsulate many of the important issues revolving the phenomenon of populism today.

Very little is known about public perceptions of journalists outside Europe and the United States. Even less is known about the role of these attitudes in sustaining civic life around the world. Using individual and country-level survey data, this study explores public attitudes of press performance and their relationship with news consumption and civic participation in 22 countries. The study argues that the nature of civic and local participatory behaviors is often intertwined with notions about what is "good journalism." Results suggest that public evaluations of press performance influence news use. News consumption is also tightly related to civic participation, even in markedly divergent cultural contexts. Citizens' assessment of journalism practice is also a positive moderator of these relationships. This study builds on international comparative work related to the effects of press freedom and journalism practice on stimulating public life.

Este articulo presenta los resultados de un estudio sobre la relación entre el uso de los medios de comunicación y la elaboración de noticias mientras se introduce el papel mediador de la percepción que el público tiene de la utilidad de los diferentes medios de comunicación para ayudarles a comprender problemas complejos. El término eficacia mediática se conceptualiza como la percepción que un individuo tiene de la utilidad de un medio noticioso en la comprensión de temas complejos. El análisis de un estudio de panel de dos olas demostró que la relación entre el uso de los medios de comunicación y la elaboración era totalmente mediada por la eficacia mediática. Esta investigación contribuye al desarrollo de los estudios sobre el modelo de mediación cognitiva al introducir una nueva variable mediadora, la eficacia mediática, y analizar su relación con la elaboración.

Reciprocity, a social principle that emerges in non-negotiated, inter-personal exchange, is arguably a key construct in generating social capital. However, little research has made this empirical connection. Building on an Orientation-Stimulus-Reasoning-Orientation-Response model, this study advances a theoretical and empirical model in which news use and political discussion tie strength contributes to the development of reciprocity and social capital. Drawing on two-wave panel data, results suggest that reciprocity is a strong predictor of social capital. News media use also directly predicts reciprocity, as well as political discussion with both strong and weak ties, and social capital. Additionally, discussion with weak ties and reciprocity mediate the relationship between news use and social capital. ; La reciprocidad, un principio social que emerge en los intercambios no negociados entre personas, es posiblemente un constructo clave en la generación de capital social. Sin embargo, pocos estudios han abordado de manera empírica esta conexión. Sobre la base de un modelo Orientación-Estímulo-Razonamiento-Orientación-Respuesta, esta investigación presenta una propuesta teórica y empírica en la que la exposición a noticias y la fuerza de los vínculos en la discusión política contribuyen al desarrollo de la reciprocidad y del capital social. Tras el análisis de los datos de un estudio de panel realizado en dos olas, los resultados sugieren que la reciprocidad es un fuerte predictor del capital social. Además, la exposición a noticias de los medios de comunicación se relaciona de manera directa con la reciprocidad; con la discusión política, tanto con vínculos fuertes como débiles; y con el capital social. Por otro lado, la discusión con vínculos débiles y la reciprocidad funcionan como mediadores de la relación entre exposición a noticias y capital social.

Internal political efficacy has long been associated with news use and political discussion. Yet, as more people are inadvertently exposed to news and political discussion online, it remains unclear whether incidental news exposure also has a discursive effect on political efficacy. In a two-wave panel study, we applied the O-S-R-O-R model of communication effects to test these relationships. We found that political discussion with weak ties, but not strong ties, is a mediator between incidental news exposure and internal political efficacy.

One thriving area of research on participatory media revolves around political expression and the creation of political content. This study analyzes the connections between these behaviors, heterogeneous information networks, and ideological extremity while accounting for the role of emotional intelligence. Results from a two-wave-panel survey of US adults show that people who engage in content-expressive behavior are embedded in heterogeneous information networks and that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between content-expressive behavior and ideological extremity.

News use via social media has been linked to pro-democratic political behaviors. However, most people use social media for non-political purposes, like connecting with friends and browsing news feeds. Recent research indicates these behaviors may also have democratic benefits, by means of political expression in social media. Drawing on panel data from a nationally representative sample, this study extends this line of research by exploring how social interaction and news-seeking behaviors on social media lead to diverse networks, exposure to dissenting political opinion, and ultimately reconsidering and changing one's political views. Social media are a unique communication platform, and their attributes might influence exposure to political information. The tendency for users to build and maintain friend networks creates a potential deliberative space for political persuasion to take place. Consistent with prior literature, news use leads to political persuasion. More interestingly, apolitical, but social interactive uses of social media also lead to political persuasion. These relationships are partially mediated through network and discussion attributes.

Despite the recognized influence media have over participatory political behaviors, few studies perform systematic and direct cross-national comparisons of news use and its effects on citizenship in different countries. And even fewer studies consider social media news use. By analyzing comparable and concurrently collected survey data from the United States and the United Kingdom, this study explores how traditional media use and the use of social media for news impact citizens' political engagement in both nations. Despite differences in terms of media use, political knowledge, political efficacy, and political participation, evidence in both cases confirms the meaningful role social media play in promoting citizens' political engagement.

While the discussion on the individual level variables that affect responses to political scandals has focused mainly on variables such as partisan identity or political cynicism, we suggest that media skepticism could also moderate whether and how individuals respond to political scandals. To test this relationship, we rely on panel data from the United States gathered before and after the Trump–Ukraine scandal occurred (Wave 1 in June 2019, Wave 2 in October 2019). Our results show that individuals who rank higher on media skepticism hold comparatively more positive views of Trump after the scandal, even when previous evaluations and alternative explanations are controlled for. Conversely, we find no effect of media skepticism in trust toward the US political system and government. We believe our findings have significant consequences to understanding the relationship between the governed and those governing in times of widespread media skepticism.

Ordinary citizens are increasingly using mobile instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp for politically-related activities. Compared to other 'semi-public' online platforms, WhatsApp provides a more intimate and controlled environment in which users can almost simultaneously gather and share news, discuss politics, and mobilize others. Relying on two-wave panel data collected in Spain, USA, and New Zealand, this study examines the mediating role of WhatsApp political discussion in the relationships between different types of news use and various forms of political participation. First, our findings reveal WhatsApp discussion has a positive influence on activism, and a more nuanced effect on conventional participation. Second, results are partially supportive of a fully mediated set of influences between news media and social media news uses and both types of participation via WhatsApp. Finally, the study examines age differential effects between younger (Gen Xers and Millennials) and older (Boomers) age groups.