Social media use for news and individuals’ social capital, civic engagement and political participation

Co-authored with Homero Gil de Zúñiga and Nakwon Jung; published in 'Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,' vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 319-336 (2012)

Recently, scholars tested how digital media use for informational purposes similarly contributes to foster democratic processes and the creation of social capital. Nevertheless, in the context of today's socially-networked-society and the rise of social media applications (i.e., Facebook) new perspectives need to be considered. Based on U.S. national data, results show that after controlling for demographic variables, traditional media use offline and online, political constructs (knowledge and efficacy), and frequency and size of political discussion networks, seeking information via social network sites is a positive and significant predictor of people's social capital and civic and political participatory behaviors, online and offline.

The Social Media Basis of Youth Protest Behavior: The Case of Chile

Co-authored with Arturo Arriagada and Andrés Scherman; published in the 'Journal of Communication,' vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 299-314 (2012)

Protest activity has become a central means for political change in Chile. We examine the association between social media use and youth protest, as well as mediating and moderating mechanisms of this relationship, using survey data collected in Chile in 2010. We found that Facebook use was associated significantly with protest activity, even after taking into account political grievances, material and psychological resources, values, and news media use. The link between overall Facebook use and protest activity was explained by using the social network for news and socializing rather than when it was used for
self-expression. Postmaterialist values and political ideologies were not found to moderate the association between Facebook use and protest.

Value Resonance and the Origins of Issue Salience

Chapter for "Agenda Setting in a 2.0 World: New Agendas in Communication” book, edited by Tom Johnson & Maxwell McCombs for Routledge.

In this chapter, I examine the role of human values on agenda-setting effects by tackling three different aspects. First, I elaborate on the theoretical and empirical implications of the values-issues consistency hypothesis, which posits that materialist and postmaterialist values moderate the strength of agenda-setting effects (Valenzuela, 2011). Second, I explore the relationship between values and need for orientation, the key psychological process that researchers have used to explain variations in the size of agenda-setting effects. Lastly, I examine the consequences of values in the agenda setting process for the development of attitudes and behaviors among citizens, also known as media priming effects. The ultimate purpose is to open new venues for research on the psychology of agenda setting.

La protesta en la era de Facebook: Manifestaciones juveniles y uso de redes sociales en Chile 2009-2011

Capítulo para el libro "Jóvenes, participación y consumo de medios", editado Andrés Scherman, Escuela de Periodismo de la Universidad Diego Portales, Chile. BORRADOR - NO CITAR

El presente capítulo se ordena de la siguiente forma. Primero expondré el nuevo concepto de ciudadanía que manifiestan los ciudadanos más jóvenes. Luego examinaré el rol que ocupan las redes sociales online en el ejercicio político de este segmento, como una forma de vincular el uso de nuevas tecnologías comunicativas con la participación política. Para ilustrar estas tendencias de forma empírica, usaré los datos de las tres encuestas “Jóvenes, Participación y Consumo de Medios” realizadas en 2009, 2010 y 2011 por la Escuela de Periodismo UDP y Feedback. En la última sección planteo algunas conclusiones generales sobre la relación entre redes sociales online y movilización juvenil.

The affective citizen communication model : how emotions engage citizens with politics through media and discussion

Doctoral dissertation presented to the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Defended on May, 2011. Co-chairs: Maxwell McCombs and Homero Gil de Zúñiga.

This dissertation seeks to improve our understanding of the process by which emotions enable citizens to learn about public affairs and engage in political activities during electoral campaigns. It advances a theoretical model that incorporates the dynamics of emotions, various forms of media use, interpersonal communication and political involvement. This affective citizen communication model integrates into a single framework the insights of affective intelligence theory (Marcus, Neuman, & MacKuen, 2000) and the work on communication mediation (McLeod et al., 1999, 2001) and its two iterations, cognitive mediation (Eveland, 2001) and citizen communication mediation (Cho et al., 2009; Shah et al., 2005, 2007). More specifically, it suggests that the effects of emotions triggered by political candidates (e.g., enthusiasm, anxiety, anger) on knowledge of the candidates’ stands on issues and on political participation are largely mediated by communication variables, including news media use, political discussion and debate viewing. By positing emotions as an antecedent of both mediated and interpersonal communication, the study extends current research based on affective intelligence theory. At the same time, the study adds emotions to communication mediation processes, which to date have been studied from a mostly cognitive perspective.
    To test the relationships between the variables identified in the affective citizen communication model, I rely on panel survey data collected for the 2008 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections by the American National Election Studies (ANES) and the National Annenberg Election Surveys (NAES), respectively. Two types of structural equation models are tested, cross sectional (to relate individual differences) and auto-regressive (to relate aggregate change across waves). Results suggest that positive emotions spark media use, whereas negative emotions spark political discussions, and both types of communication behavior influence issue knowledge and participation in campaign activities. Furthermore, the theorized structure is found to perform better than an alternative structure where communication variables cause positive and negative emotions. Thus, results provide strong support for the proposed affective citizen communication model. Refinements to the proposed model, connections with existing theories of political communication, such as agenda setting and partisan selective exposure, and directions for future research are also discussed.

¿Hacia una nueva ciudadanía multifuncional? Uso de medios digitales, redes sociales online y participación política

Co-authored with Andrés Scherman and Arturo Arriagada; presented at the 4th Latin American Congress of Public Opinion Research, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2010)

Este artículo se ordena de la siguiente forma. Primero se
expondrá el nuevo concepto de ciudadanía que ejercen los jóvenes en las democracias occidentales. Luego se examinará el rol que ocupan Internet y los medios sociales online
en el ejercicio político de los ciudadanos jóvenes, como una forma de vincular el uso de nuevas tecnologías comunicativas con la participación política. Para ilustrar estas tendencias, se usará datos de una encuesta nacional representativa realizadas por los autores en Chile. En la última sección se resumen los principales hallazgos y se plantean 3 propuestas para futuras investigaciones sobre la relación entre uso de medios digitales y
comportamiento político.

Deliberation or Small Talk? Motivations for Public Discussion and their Effects on Civic Engagement

Co-authored with SunHo Jeong and Homero Gil de Zúñiga; presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, St. Louis, MO, Aug. 2011

We use original survey data to examine (1) the motivations people have for engaging in online and interpersonal discussions, and (2) the influence of instrumental and relational goals on civic participation. Using structural equation modeling, we find that both goals trigger discussions online and offline, which in turn lead to civic engagement. These results cast citizen-to-citizen communication on a different perspective than deliberative theory and point to social motivations as an alternative path to civic life.

Social Networks that Matter: Exploring the Role of Political Discussion for Online Political Participation

Co-authored with Yonghwan Kim and Homero Gil de Zúñiga; forthcoming in the 'International Journal of Public Opinion Research'

We examine the relationship between citizen-to-citizen discussions and online political participation considering various attributes of individuals’ social networks: modality, 10 discussants’ ties, diversity of opinions, and quality of argumentation. Using a national survey of U.S. residents we find that communication within networks is a significant
predictor of web-based forms of political engagement, after controlling for offline participation, political orientations, news use, and socio-demographics. Consistent with the ‘‘strength of weak ties’’ argument, larger online networks and weak-tie
15 discussion frequency are associated with online participation. While like-minded discussions are positively related to online participation, discussions with people who are not of like mind correlate negatively with it. Online network size and reasoning discussions were positively related to online participation, although these associations were rather weak compared to the role of other network characteristics.

Materialism, Postmaterialism and Agenda-Setting Effects: The Values-Issues Consistency Hypothesis

Published in the 'International Journal of Public Opinion Research', vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 437-463 (2011)

This article examines the moderating role of human values on agenda-setting effects, which refer to the influence of news coverage on defining the public agenda. The results of two studies—a content analysis of Canadian newspapers matched with a representative survey panel of Canadian voters, in addition to an experiment with college students—find support for the hypothesis that agenda-setting effects are stronger when the topics in the news agenda are consistent with individuals’ values. Individuals with materialist values exhibited larger agenda-setting effects for materialist issues than for postmaterialist issues, whereas postmaterialist individuals exhibited larger agenda-setting effects for postmaterialist issues than for materialist issues. These findings bring new evidence to debates on the psychological process of agenda setting and the ability of individuals to resist news media influence.

Conflictos sociales, economía y aprobación del gobierno: Las lecciones del caso Bachelet para el caso Piñera

La magnitud del desplome y posterior repunte de la aprobación de Bachelet constituye una fascinante incógnita en el estudio de la opinión pública chilena. Ello ya es motivo suficiente para realizar un análisis pormenorizado de la fluctuación en la popularidad presidencial. Dadas las actuales circunstancias, este ejercicio cobra aún más relevancia. Es enteramente posible—y deseable—desarrollar un modelo que explique por qué la opinión pública evolucionó de la manera que lo hizo en determinado período. Con ello, todos (partiendo por los asesores del segundo piso de Piñera) podemos sacar lecciones que nos permitan entender mejor qué mueve a la opinión pública. Es lo que haré aquí usando los datos mensuales de aprobación presidencial recogidos por Adimark GfK vía encuesta telefónica a una muestra representativa de residentes en zonas urbanas.

Politics without Citizens? Public Opinion, Television News, the President and Real-World Factors in Chile 2000-2005

Co-authored with Arturo Arriagada; published in the 'International Journal of Press/Politics,' vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 357-381 (2011)

This study tests the generalizability of agenda-setting theory in less developed democracies by analyzing data on public opinion, news coverage, presidential policy and real-world indicators from Chile between 2000 and 2005. After tracking attention to five different issues —crime, unemployment, health, poverty and education— we estimate both average and issue-specific agenda-setting effects using time-series, cross-sectional OLS regressions. The results show that there are multi-directional influences between the public, the media and the president. Both the public and the president appeared responsive to prior news coverage, and while news coverage was not influenced by public attention, it was affected by presidential rhetoric. While these processes differed from one issue to another, overall there was a top-down pattern of agenda adoption: policy preferences are “negotiated” between the president and the media, with no noticeable input from the public. From a comparative perspective, the evidence shows that the media in Chile is considerably powerful and that citizens’ priorities are basically ignored by the elites, although their maneuvering is still constrained by objective conditions.

Variations in Media Priming: The Moderating Role of Knowledge, Interest, News Attention and Discussion

Published in 'Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly', vol. 86, 4, 756-774 (2009)

Existing research on which citizens are most and least likely to exhibit media priming effects is inconclusive. Using a content analysis of campaign coverage and public opinion data from the 2006 Canadian election, this study examined the moderating role of voters’ political knowledge, interest in politics, news attention and discussion frequency. The results show that priming was not constant across political involvement variables. As predicted, it was strongest for citizens with moderate levels of knowledge and discussion, but was negatively related to interest. Compared to pessimistic and optimistic accounts of voters’ ability to resist media influence, the findings suggest a more nuanced perspective on citizen competence.

The Mediating Path to a Stronger Citizenship: Online and Offline Networks, Weak Ties and Civic Engagement

Co-authored with Homero Gil de Zúñiga; published in 'Communication Research,' vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 397-421 (2011)

Empirical studies of citizen communication networks and participation go as far back as the 1940s, with a bolder focus in political—not civic—activities. A consistent finding reveals that individuals with larger networks are more engaged than those with smaller networks. This paper expands this line of work with a number of novel tests. First, it compares the predictive power of online versus offline network size on civic engagement. It then explores the role of “strong-tie” versus “weak-tie” discussion frequency and participatory behaviors. Finally, it examines the extent to which the contribution of network size, both online and offline, on civic engagement is mediated by discussion with “weak ties.” Using original survey data from a large national sample of U.S. adults, results indicate that (1) the relationships between online and offline network size and civic engagement are positive and fairly similar in strength, (2) weak-tie discussion is the strongest predictor of civic behaviors, (3) weak-tie discussion largely mediates the association between participation and network size online and offline, and (4) online networks entail greater exposure to weak ties than offline networks.

An experimental comparison of two perspectives on the concept of need for orientation in agenda-setting theory

Co-authored with Gennadiy Chernov and Maxwell McCombs; published in 'Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly,' vol. 88, pp. 142-155 (2011)

The 2008 U.S. presidential election marked the 40th anniversary of agenda-setting research. In the years since the inaugural 1968 Chapel Hill study, the theoretical map of agenda setting has been vastly expanded to encompass five distinct aspects of the theory, and researchers continue to open new domains for theoretical exploration. Simultaneously, scholars also are returning to the basic concepts and propositions of agenda-setting theory to explicate them in greater detail. The focus here is on this latter trend, the explication in greater detail of need for orientation (NFO), one of agenda-setting theory’s key concepts. Specifically, this is a comparative investigation of two perspectives on NFO – the long-standing and widely used conceptualization of need for orientation introduced by David Weaver in the 1972 Charlotte study and a recent and expanded conceptualization of need for orientation introduced by Jorg Matthes.

Being Immersed in Social Networking Environment: Facebook Groups, Uses and Gratifications, and Social Outcomes

Co-authored with Namsu Park and Kerk F. Kee, published in 'CyberPsychology & Behavior', vol. 12, 6, 729-733 (2009)

A Web survey of 1,715 college students was conducted to examine Facebook Groups users' gratifications and the relationship between users' gratifications and their political and civic participation offline. A factor analysis revealed four primary needs for participating in groups within Facebook: socializing, entertainment, self-status seeking, and information. These gratifications vary depending on user demographics such as gender, hometown, and year in school. The analysis of the relationship between users' needs and civic and political participation indicated that, as predicted, informational uses were more correlated to civic and political action than to recreational uses.

Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation

Co-authored with Namsu Park & Kerk F. Kee, published in 'Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication', vol. 14, 4, 875-901 (2009)

This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among college students in the U.S., is related to attitudes and behaviors that enhance individuals' social capital. Using data from a random web survey of college students across Texas (n = 2,603), we find positive relationships between intensity of Facebook use and students' life satisfaction, social trust, civic engagement, and political participation. While these findings should ease the concerns of those who fear that Facebook has mostly negative effects on young adults, the positive and significant associations between Facebook variables and social capital were small, suggesting that online social networks are not the most effective solution for youth disengagement from civic duty and democracy.

Blogging as a Journalistic Practice: A Model Linking Perception, Motivation, and Behavior

Co-authored with Homero Gil de Zúñiga, Seth Lewis, Amber Willard Hinsley, Jae Kook Lee & Brian Baresch; published in 'Journalism: Theory Practice & Criticism,' vol. 12, 5, pp. 1-21 (2011)

As blogs have become a fixture in today’s media environment, growing in number and influence in political communication and (mass) media discourse, research on the subject has proliferated, often emphasizing the high-profile conflicts and controversies at the intersection of blogging and journalism. Less examined, however, is the psychology of everyday citizen bloggers in this context. In studying a randomized sample of U.S. bloggers, we attempt to puzzle out this question: To what extent do bloggers (1) perceive their work as a form of journalism, and how might such a perception influence (2) their motivations for posting and (3) the topics around which they blog? Most critically, (4) this paper constructs a model by which all these antecedents predict whether bloggers behave like professional journalists. Results indicate that bloggers who see their work as a form of journalism are more inclined to inform and influence readers, write about public affairs, and behave as a more traditional journalist.

Citizen Journalism and Democracy: How User-Generated News Use Relates to Political Knowledge and Participation

Co-authored with Kelly Kaufhold and Homero Gil de Zúñiga; published in 'Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly,' vol. 87, pp. 515-529 (2010)

Does user-generated news increase individuals’ political knowledge and political participation? Addressing this question is the purpose of this study. Using national survey data, results indicate that both professional and citizen journalism have an effect on democratic citizenship. The picture however, is rather complex. Those who consume news through professional outlets—online and offline—tended to score marginally higher in our political knowledge scale than those who consumed news through citizen outlets. Thus, professional journalism excels over citizen journalism at informing individuals about national political figures. In relation to political involvement, however, both types of journalism seem to have a positive impact. Nevertheless, citizen journalism seems to mobilize individuals to a level that professional journalism doesn’t reach.

Press Coverage and Public Opinion On Women Candidates: The Case of Chile's Michelle Bachelet

Co-authored with Teresa Correa; published in 'International Communication Gazette', Vol. 71, No. 3, 203-223 (2009)

Because more women are running —and succeeding— in presidential races all over the world, it is important to analyze the way they are portrayed by the news media. Using Chile as a case study and agenda setting as a theoretical framework, the authors examined differences in press coverage of this country's first woman president, Michelle Bachelet, and her male contenders in the 2005/6 elections and compared them to public opinion. As expected, the press covered the candidates' personal attributes and issue positions following traditional gender stereotypes. However, some gender-based differences in news coverage actually boosted the image of Michelle Bachelet. The authors suggest that the media may have influenced public opinion toward the candidates, and discuss the implications of these findings for future research

The Agenda-Setting Theory

Co-authored with Maxwell McCombs; published in 'Cuadernos de Informacion', vol. 20, 44-40 (2007)

Forty years ago in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the first agenda-setting study showed that the issue priorities of the news become the issue priorities of the public in the 1968 U.S. presidential campaign. Since then, the agenda-setting model has been replicated in more than 400 studies that include both election and non-election settings, covering a wide variety of issues, and extending beyond the U.S. to a broad range of countries in the five continents. This article examines the progress of this research to date, reviewing its principal variations, how now encompasses five different theoretical stages, and what are the possible new areas of application and development.

The Competition for Similarity in Chilean News Broadcasts and Newspapers 2000-2005

Co-authored with Arturo Arriagada; published in 'Cuadernos de Informacion', vol. 24, 41-52 (2009)

The power of the press to set political agendas is dependent upon a consensus among journalists and the media on the topics deemed newsworthy. By analyzing the content of four television newscasts and four national newspapers between 2000 and 2005, this article empirically measures the level of diversity of the Chilean news media agenda according to the frequency with which specific topics appear in the
news. The results reveal a very high level of uniformity between news agendas, which is consistent over time despite the differences in format, editorial line, and targeted audience of each news outlet. This article suggests some of the causes and consequences of this homogeneity for the quality of the public debate and the political system.

Agenda-Setting Effects on Vote Choice: Evidence From the 2006 Mexican Election

Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, San Francisco, CA, May 2007

Most research on media effects has been conducted within mature democracies, which differ in a number of ways from emerging democracies. To extend the applicability of political communication research, this study examined the influence of news coverage of political candidates on vote choice using data from the 2006 Mexican presidential election. A content analysis of the campaign coverage by two national television networks was related to public opinion polls and election results using agenda setting as a theoretical framework. The study found that both Televisa and TV Azteca gave significantly more coverage to the winning candidate, Felipe Calderón, than to his main rivals, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Roberto Madrazo. Also, the tone of the news coverage was clearly favorable for Calderón and Madrazo and markedly  unfavorable for López Obrador. A regression was conducted to measure the effects of news content on voters’ preferences and found that approximately half of the variance in vote choice could be
explained by media coverage. Specifically, the more covered and favorably presented a candidate was, the higher the percentage of public support. Significant effects occurred cumulatively, over longer periods of time, and not immediately. The results support the conclusions of a study by Son and
Weaver that examined the 2000 U.S. presidential election and extend agenda-setting effects to the behavioral sphere.