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Social Indicators Research

Erschienen in:

08.02.2015

Flames and Debates: Do Social Media Affect Satisfaction with Democracy?

verfasst von: Andrea Ceron, Vincenzo Memoli

Erschienen in: Social Indicators Research | Ausgabe 1/2016

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Abstract

Media plays an important role in defining the quality of democracy in consolidated democracy. Internet, in turn, can wield effects on democracy and many scholars have investigated such relationship. Moving from this literature we use Eurobarometer data to estimate the effect of Internet on the satisfaction with the functioning of democracy among European citizens. The results show that Internet usage, per se, has no effect on the satisfaction with democracy. However, the consumption of online news can make the difference, even though this effect is positive when users consume news from online traditional media while social media has a negative effect, which is mediated by the level of online disagreement and the potential emergence of flames.

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For instance, the standard format of the question used in the Eurobarometer surveys is: ‘On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very satisfied, or not at all satisfied with the way democracy works in (your country)?’.

Source: World Bank.

While the virtuous circle theory argues that news have positive effects among consumers that already have prior political interest and knowledge (Norris 2000, 2011), in the social media world there can be accidental exposure to anti-system arguments (e.g. Chadwick 2009) even among users with limited political knowledge.

Using random effects or a multilevel model does not alter the results.

This result is somehow similar to what reported by Dimitrova et al. (2014), which displays a positive effect of on-line new media on political knowledge whereas social media have no effect.

Note, however, that the direction of such disagreement does not seem to matter. Whether i is surrounded by users that are more confident or less confident in political institutions than him does not make a difference.

Note, however, that this relationship should be better investigated using data that allow to assess the content and the slant of each single media consumed by the respondent.

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Titel: Flames and Debates: Do Social Media Affect Satisfaction with Democracy?
verfasst von: Andrea Ceron
Vincenzo Memoli
Publikationsdatum: 08.02.2015
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: Social Indicators Research / Ausgabe 1/2016
Print ISSN: 0303-8300
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-0921
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0893-x

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