Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm Elections
Political polarization has proliferated online. Scholars have identified multiple types of polarizing speech, which elicit stronger public reactions on social media platforms. Little research has focused on how social media platforms might hasten growing partisanship among both elites and the public...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Socius |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241228924 |
| _version_ | 1827346909226860544 |
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| author | Patrick Rafail Whitney E. O’Connell Emma Sager |
| author_facet | Patrick Rafail Whitney E. O’Connell Emma Sager |
| author_sort | Patrick Rafail |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Political polarization has proliferated online. Scholars have identified multiple types of polarizing speech, which elicit stronger public reactions on social media platforms. Little research has focused on how social media platforms might hasten growing partisanship among both elites and the public. The authors examine these dynamics using a sample of 134,442 tweets posted by 527 members of Congress in the period surrounding the 2022 midterm elections. Our findings confirm that all types of polarization increase engagement, but party affiliation plays an important role in the process. Polarizing rhetoric from Republicans generally elicits a stronger reaction relative to that from Democrats. The exception is an increase in retweets of issue-based polarization when posted by Democrats. The authors conclude that all politicians are incentivized to adopt a polarizing presence on social media to raise their profiles. The diffusion of polarization may be shaped by partisanship, with the different parties amplifying different types of content. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:39:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac9483ac932f44559dd220dcce4da0b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2378-0231 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:39:37Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Socius |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac9483ac932f44559dd220dcce4da0b62024-02-20T02:03:28ZengSAGE PublishingSocius2378-02312024-02-011010.1177/23780231241228924Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm ElectionsPatrick Rafail0Whitney E. O’Connell1Emma Sager2Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USATulane University, New Orleans, LA, USATulane University, New Orleans, LA, USAPolitical polarization has proliferated online. Scholars have identified multiple types of polarizing speech, which elicit stronger public reactions on social media platforms. Little research has focused on how social media platforms might hasten growing partisanship among both elites and the public. The authors examine these dynamics using a sample of 134,442 tweets posted by 527 members of Congress in the period surrounding the 2022 midterm elections. Our findings confirm that all types of polarization increase engagement, but party affiliation plays an important role in the process. Polarizing rhetoric from Republicans generally elicits a stronger reaction relative to that from Democrats. The exception is an increase in retweets of issue-based polarization when posted by Democrats. The authors conclude that all politicians are incentivized to adopt a polarizing presence on social media to raise their profiles. The diffusion of polarization may be shaped by partisanship, with the different parties amplifying different types of content.https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241228924 |
| spellingShingle | Patrick Rafail Whitney E. O’Connell Emma Sager Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm Elections Socius |
| title | Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm Elections |
| title_full | Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm Elections |
| title_fullStr | Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm Elections |
| title_full_unstemmed | Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm Elections |
| title_short | Polarizing Feedback Loops on Twitter: Congressional Tweets during the 2022 Midterm Elections |
| title_sort | polarizing feedback loops on twitter congressional tweets during the 2022 midterm elections |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241228924 |
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