How social media shapes polarization

Jay J Van Bavel; Steve Rathje; Elizabeth Harris; Claire Robertson; Anni Sternisko

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.013

How social media shapes polarization

Trends Cogn Sci. 2021 Nov;25(11):913-916. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.013. Epub 2021 Aug 21.

Authors

Jay J Van Bavel¹, Steve Rathje², Elizabeth Harris³, Claire Robertson⁴, Anni Sternisko⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RQ, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34429255
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.013

Abstract

This article reviews the empirical evidence on the relationship between social media and political polarization. We argue that social media shapes polarization through the following social, cognitive, and technological processes: partisan selection, message content, and platform design and algorithms.

Keywords: polarization; politics; psychology; social media.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Politics
Social Media*