Politics – Simply Explained? How Influencers Affect Youth’s Perceived Simplification of Politics, Political Cynicism, and Political Interest

IF 4.1 1区 社会学 Q1 COMMUNICATION International Journal of Press-Politics Pub Date : 2022-03-24 DOI:10.1177/19401612221088987
D. Schmuck, Melanie Hirsch, Anja Stevic, Jörg Matthes
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引用次数: 11

Abstract

Social media influencers promote not only products and brands but also their opinions on serious topics like party politics or climate change. These so-called digital opinion leaders may exert a powerful impact on their followers’ political attitudes. Accordingly, we explore new directions to explain how influencers’ communication is related to political outcomes by proposing the concept of perceived simplification of politics (PSP). We argue that PSP may fuel political cynicism but also stimulate youth's interest in politics. We also explore important boundary conditions of these associations. We use data from three studies, a two-wave panel survey of adolescents (NT2 = 294), a cross-sectional survey of young adults (N = 632), and a two-wave panel survey of young adults (NT2 = 496) in Germany between 2019 and 2020. Findings of all three studies show that the frequency of exposure to social media influencers’ content increases PSP. In Studies 1 and 2, PSP is related to higher political cynicism, while in Study 3, this relationship is restricted to influencers’ communication about environmental topics and gender equality. Furthermore, Studies 2 and 3 suggest that PSP also increases political interest—yet this association requires a certain level of parasocial interaction (PSI) with the influencer and is contingent on specific political topics.
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政治——简单解释?影响者如何影响年轻人对政治、政治犬儒主义和政治兴趣的简化
社交媒体影响者不仅宣传产品和品牌,还宣传他们对政党政治或气候变化等严肃话题的看法。这些所谓的数字舆论领袖可能会对其追随者的政治态度产生强大影响。因此,我们通过提出感知政治简化(PSP)的概念,探索了新的方向来解释影响者的沟通如何与政治结果相关。我们认为PSP可能会助长政治冷嘲热讽,但也会激发年轻人对政治的兴趣。我们还探讨了这些关联的重要边界条件。我们使用了三项研究的数据,这是一项针对青少年的两波小组调查(NT2 = 294),一项针对年轻人的横断面调查(N = 632),以及一项针对年轻人的两波小组调查(NT2 = 496)。这三项研究的结果都表明,接触社交媒体影响者内容的频率会增加PSP。在研究1和2中,PSP与更高的政治犬儒主义有关,而在研究3中,这种关系仅限于影响者关于环境话题和性别平等的交流。此外,研究2和3表明,PSP也会增加政治兴趣——然而这种联系需要与影响者进行一定程度的准社会互动(PSI),并且取决于特定的政治话题。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
12.10
自引率
8.30%
发文量
61
期刊介绍: The International Journal of Press/Politics is an interdisciplinary journal for the analysis and discussion of the role of the press and politics in a globalized world. The Journal is interested in theoretical and empirical research on the linkages between the news media and political processes and actors. Special attention is given to the following subjects: the press and political institutions (e.g. the state, government, political parties, social movements, unions, interest groups, business), the politics of media coverage of social and cultural issues (e.g. race, language, health, environment, gender, nationhood, migration, labor), the dynamics and effects of political communication.
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