Incidental Exposure and News Engagement

Testing Temporal Order and the Role of Political Interest

Bibliographic Data

ID22010972
AuthorsMatthew Barnidge (0000-0002-0683-3850, University of Alabama, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume11
Issue1
Pages125-143
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDigital Journalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2167-0811 • E-ISSN: 2167-082X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21670811.2021.1906290
OpenAlexW3155225506
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited54

In the contemporary media environment, and particularly on social media platforms, people are embedded in multiple, intersecting flows of political information generated by a wide range of curating actors, and two sets of predictions have emerged in the literature to explain these dynamics of political information exposure and engagement. Theory on incidental exposure suggests that it will lead to news engagement, particularly among the least politically interested individuals. Meanwhile, research on news algorithms suggests the reverse temporal ordering and an antecedent role for political interest. The goals of this study are to (a) theoretically integrate these claims into the ‘curated flows’ framework, (b) to test orthogonal predictions about temporal ordering and the role of political interest, and (c) to compare models by testing cross-lagged relationships between incidental exposure and news sharing. Analysing a two-wave online survey of adult internet users in the United States, results show support for both sets of predictions; however, results also show key differences in the role played by political interest. Results are discussed in light of their implications for theory about news exposure and engagement in the contemporary media environment

Business · Information sharing · Media studies · News media · Political communication · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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