The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and Beliefs
As social media are increasingly integrated into our lives, scholars have examined how social media use can inform beliefs about politics and science. This study considers the political implications of following lifestyle influencers and their aspirational content in social media. Aspirational socia...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Social Media + Society |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231211945 |
| _version_ | 1797499798287286272 |
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| author | Ariel Hasell Sedona Chinn |
| author_facet | Ariel Hasell Sedona Chinn |
| author_sort | Ariel Hasell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As social media are increasingly integrated into our lives, scholars have examined how social media use can inform beliefs about politics and science. This study considers the political implications of following lifestyle influencers and their aspirational content in social media. Aspirational social media use may shape political attitudes and beliefs, even when not explicitly political. Using a two-wave survey of American adults ( N = 1,421), this study examines whether aspirational use of social media is associated with anti-expert attitudes and inaccurate beliefs about politicized science. Data indicate that aspirational social media use is associated with anti-intellectualism and holding more inaccurate beliefs, but not with overall distrust of science. These relationships are moderated by political affiliation, so that the attitudes and beliefs of Democrats and Republicans are similar at high levels of aspirational social media use. The results highlight the need to better understand the political implications of different types of social media use, including seemingly apolitical social media. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:52:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ceb66cfc577f4fa3b36fcf312550df71 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-3051 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:52:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Media + Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-ceb66cfc577f4fa3b36fcf312550df712023-11-23T11:03:52ZengSAGE PublishingSocial Media + Society2056-30512023-11-01910.1177/20563051231211945The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and BeliefsAriel Hasell0Sedona Chinn1University of Michigan, USAUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, USAAs social media are increasingly integrated into our lives, scholars have examined how social media use can inform beliefs about politics and science. This study considers the political implications of following lifestyle influencers and their aspirational content in social media. Aspirational social media use may shape political attitudes and beliefs, even when not explicitly political. Using a two-wave survey of American adults ( N = 1,421), this study examines whether aspirational use of social media is associated with anti-expert attitudes and inaccurate beliefs about politicized science. Data indicate that aspirational social media use is associated with anti-intellectualism and holding more inaccurate beliefs, but not with overall distrust of science. These relationships are moderated by political affiliation, so that the attitudes and beliefs of Democrats and Republicans are similar at high levels of aspirational social media use. The results highlight the need to better understand the political implications of different types of social media use, including seemingly apolitical social media.https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231211945 |
| spellingShingle | Ariel Hasell Sedona Chinn The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and Beliefs Social Media + Society |
| title | The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and Beliefs |
| title_full | The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and Beliefs |
| title_fullStr | The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and Beliefs |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and Beliefs |
| title_short | The Political Influence of Lifestyle Influencers? Examining the Relationship Between Aspirational Social Media Use and Anti-Expert Attitudes and Beliefs |
| title_sort | political influence of lifestyle influencers examining the relationship between aspirational social media use and anti expert attitudes and beliefs |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231211945 |
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