The Changing Nature of Political Debate Consumption: Social Media, Multitasking, and Knowledge Acquisition

This study examines the influence of debate viewing-social media multitasking on campaign knowledge during the 2012 presidential election. Results from three waves of a national cross-sectional survey of U.S. adults conducted during and after the 2012 presidential election suggest that social networ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political communication 2017-04, Vol.34 (2), p.172-199
Main Authors: Gottfried, Jeffrey A., Hardy, Bruce W., Holbert, R. Lance, Winneg, Kenneth M., Jamieson, Kathleen Hall
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Campaigns
Candidates
Consumption
Debates
Election results
Knowledge acquisition
Mass media effects
Multitasking
Networking
News media
political knowledge
Presidential elections
Social media
Social networks
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Summary:This study examines the influence of debate viewing-social media multitasking on campaign knowledge during the 2012 presidential election. Results from three waves of a national cross-sectional survey of U.S. adults conducted during and after the 2012 presidential election suggest that social networking site (SNS) use overall correlates with increased knowledge of campaign issues and facts above and beyond the use of other sources of news media. In addition, watching a debate with or without simultaneous social media engagement is better for knowledge generation than not viewing a debate at all, but the effect of debate viewing is dulled when simultaneously engaging in social media multitasking. The debate viewing-social media multitasking effect is moderated by candidate preference, with differential learning occurring largely for knowledge that is favorable to one's preferred candidate.
ISSN:1058-4609
1091-7675
DOI:10.1080/10584609.2016.1154120