Connecting Social Media Use With Education- and Race-Based Gaps in Factual and Perceived Knowledge Across Wicked Science Issues

Abstract

Using three U.S. public opinion survey datasets, this study examines whether use of specific social media platforms affects the gaps in factual and perceived knowledge of three wicked science issues among Americans with different racial and socioeconomic makeup. Less-educated Americans are less likely to gain factual knowledge but more likely to gain perceived knowledge from increased social media use than more-educated Americans. Racial minorities are more likely to gain both factual and perceived science knowledge than White Americans with increased social media use. Furthermore, social media use was linked to wider education-based gaps in factual knowledge and narrower education-based gaps in perceived knowledge among racial minorities than among Whites. Theoretical and practical implications for equitable science communication are discussed.