Social Networking Sites (SNS) are a main way in which citizens access or are subjected to political news (Bode, 2016; Vaccari, Chadwick, & O’Loughlin, 2015). Web 2.0 make SNS even more user-friendly by being able to tailor user’s own timeline, ignore information that the users do not want to see, and because of advertisements be suggested ads and stories that are tailored to the user’s browsing history (Bode, 2016; Vaccari, Chadwick, & O’Loughlin, 2015; Lyons, & Veenstra, 2016). There is evidence that users are no longer using just one media format to access information, including political news, Vaccari, Chadwick, and O’Loughlin call this dual screening, which is where the user switches between multiple media format for example watching television and then selecting a smartphone to search for the information on that device (Vaccari, Chadwick, & O’Loughlin, 2015, p. 1041). In Vaccari, Chadwich, and O’Loughlin’s 2015 study, they found that more users utilize SNS to get their information, being active in politics is connected to dual screening, stumbling up information and political engagement is connected, and that engagement is elicited by other users (p. 1053-1056) Bode’s 2016 study, as in Vaccari, Chadwich, and O’Loughlins, finds that SNS is being utilized more frequently for acquiring political knowledge. With Web 2.0, this is a factor as to why people are getting partisan and fake news (see Fake and Social Media), because the user is receiving news feeds and ads that is tailored to their browsing history. (Bode, 2016; Vaccari, Chadwick, & O’Loughlin, 2015; Lyons, & Veenstra, 2016).
Twitter is used more for political information, especially regarding political candidates, and politicians utilize it to connect with their constituents (Lyons, & Veenstra, 2016). How does this make their constituents view them? Lyons and Veenstra’s 2016 study evaluates how a congressional politician’s tweets could affect how users interpret them (to link to Congressional live feeds on Twitter, click here). Lyons and Veenstra’s 2016 study found that candidates that actively participate on their feed, and utilize more conversation with their follows were viewed more positively; however, priming was found to affect both (p.12). If the initial tweet was viewed as more derogatory, this will shape the way that the entire conversation is interpreted by a user; the content of the message and comments could have this effect as well (Lyons and Veenstra, 2016).
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