Polarized information ecosystems can reorganize social networks via information cascades

Christopher K. Tokita, Andrew M. Guess and Corina E. Tarnita
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Christopher K. Tokita: a Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544;
Andrew M. Guess: b Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544;; c School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Corina E. Tarnita: a Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544;

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021, vol. 118, issue 50, e2102147118

Abstract: Many argue that partisan media coverage creates political polarization by pushing people’s opinions to extremes, but evidence is mixed. We instead propose that partisan media coverage can cause polarization by altering people’s social connections and reorganizing social networks along political lines. Using computational modeling and social media data, we explore how people may adjust their social ties to avoid the sharing behavior of friends who might be engaging with news from nonpreferred information sources. Our model suggests that polarization is driven to a large extent by unfollowing, which can gradually—and inadvertently—produce homogeneous online networks, known to reduce exposure to challenging information and encourage outgroup hostility. In this way, institutional polarization can reverberate through the networked mass public.

Keywords: echo chambers; social contagion; political polarization; news media; social media (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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