Platform Matters : Political Opinion Expression on Social Media

Abstract: This study examines political opinion expression on four social media platforms in Argentina (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp). Drawing on in-depth interviews (N=158) and a survey (N= 700), it examines divergent dynamics of political conversation across platforms, and finds that respondents use platforms in different ways to talk about current affairs. Political discussion practices vary according to shared understandings regarding the content perceived as appropriate and level of privacy attributed to each platform, but not according to socio demographic characteristics. This comparative cross-platform approach indicates that political talk on social media is shaped by: a) the political context; b) each platform’s uptake; and, c) the overlapping of private and public, non-political and political content in a single space. Combining interviews with a survey allows this research to account for both differences in the level of political talk across platforms and the interpr.... https://ojs.weizenbaum-institut.de/index.php/wjds/article/view/11

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Platform Matters ; volume:1 ; number:1 ; year:2021 ; Weizenbaum journal of the digital society ; 1, Heft 1 (2021)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Mitchelstein, Eugenia ; Boczkowski, Pablo ; Giuliano, Camila

Further information

• DOI: 10.34669/wi.wjds/1.1.5
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023091309045401611964
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:50 AM CEST