Does Social Media Exacerbate Political Polarization? Experimental Evidence from Varying Access to Twitter/X during a Presidential Debate

61 Pages Posted: 19 Feb 2024 Last revised: 1 Jan 2025

See all articles by Rafael Di Tella

Rafael Di Tella

Harvard Business School - Business, Government and the International Economy Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Ramiro H. Gálvez

Universidad Torcuato Di Tella

Ernesto Schargrodsky

Universidad Torcuato Di Tella

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 01, 2025

Abstract

We study how individuals inside and outside echo chambers react to variations in social media access (Twitter/X) during a political event. Our experimental treatments mimic two strategies often proposed to limit political polarization on social media: getting people to switch off social media, and exposing people to counter-attitudinal data. Our results show that these treatments have no impact on polarization for individuals initially outside echo chamber. However, online segregated individuals experience increased polarization levels (backfire effects) under both treatments.

Keywords: political polarization, social media, echo chambers, mitigation strategies, backfire effects

JEL Classification: D72, D83, L82, L86, O33, P16

Suggested Citation

Di Tella, Rafael and Gálvez, Ramiro H. and Schargrodsky, Ernesto, Does Social Media Exacerbate Political Polarization? Experimental Evidence from Varying Access to Twitter/X during a Presidential Debate (January 01, 2025). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4721023 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4721023

Rafael Di Tella

Harvard Business School - Business, Government and the International Economy Unit ( email )

Cambridge, MA
United States
617-495-5048 (Phone)
617-496-5985 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.people.hbs.edu/rditella/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
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Ramiro H. Gálvez (Contact Author)

Universidad Torcuato Di Tella ( email )

Minones 2159
C1428ATG Buenos Aires, 1428
Argentina

Ernesto Schargrodsky

Universidad Torcuato Di Tella ( email )

Minones 2159
1428 Buenos Aires, 1428
Argentina
+54 11 4784 0080 (Phone)
+54 11 4783 3220 (Fax)

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