國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Chapter 1. Introduction
In the past decades, social media and social networking sites (SNS) have emerged as essential public discourse channels. Even though there are some arguments about SNSs algorithms filtering out dissimilar information (Brannon, Tagler & Eagly, 2007;
Wojcieszak & Price, 2010), it is evident that social media provide a convenient forum for informational exposure and seeking. SNSs are especially valuable for its ability to provide attitudinally challenging information, which is referred to as heterogeneous information. Scholars believed that heterogeneous information can broaden people’s understanding of different perspectives, moderate individuals’ pre-existing attitude, and, therefore, enhance the political tolerance with dissimilar others (Papacharissi, 2002;
Lee, Kim & Kim, 2014; Chen, Ping & Chen, 2015; Liu & Su, 2017; Lee & Choi, 2019).
In addition to information exchange, discussions of political and public affairs nowadays also shifted to SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter. Public opinion on several social issues has been quite divided in Taiwan in recent years. In 2018, Taiwan held a referendum regarding controversial social issues that have been debating over decades, including pension reform, the implementation of the nuclear power plant, same-sex marriage legalization, making them essential topics of interpersonal discussions on SNSs. During the days leading up to the referendum, people went on social media to express and exchange various opinions. Both the supporters and opponents of these issues have thrived to defend their perspectives and dispute “the other side.” Speaking to interpersonal communication, discussion with people who have different opinions is likely to indirectly affect the relationship between heterogeneous information exposure and individuals’ attitude formation (Lee & Choi, 2019). Past studies also demonstrated that various information is available in a heterogeneous network composed of users of
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
different races, political identification, occupation, and educational level. Being exposed to diverse information and viewpoints is more likely to facilitate cross-cutting discussion among users, resulting in possible attitude change (Lee et al., 2012).
Therefore, it is noteworthy to examine the relationship between heterogeneous information exposure and attitude formation and the indirect effect of heterogeneous discussion.
To date, social media has been highly penetrated in Taiwan and served as the primary pipeline for public discourse. Individuals nowadays rely more on shared information from SNSs than traditional media outlets (Turcotte et al., 2015). According to the “Global Digital Report” issued jointly by We Are Social and Hootsuite in 2019, 20.82 million out of a total population of 23.73 million people in Taiwan are online users. Above all, it is indicated that up to 95% of the population surf the internet every day. The average time spent on consuming and searching through digital devices is 7 hours, 39 minutes. Besides, approximately 89% of the online citizens are active social media users, mostly aged between 16 to 64 (We Are Social, 2019). The percentage remains at a similar level in 2020 (We Are Social, 2020). Based on the statistic, each internet user has 8.4 accounts on social media, and the average time spent is 1 hour 52 minutes per day. SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter have increased their impacts on public and social changes by enabling online users to disseminate firsthand news, engage in various discussions, and alter opinion climate (Chen, Ping & Chen, 2015;
Matakos, Terzi, & Tsaparas, 2017). Especially, information or debates about controversial social issues on SNSs often encompass diverse, or even polarized perspectives, which differ from those of the mainstream media (Liu & Su, 2017). In other words, online audiences have more opportunities to be exposed to diverse information and incongruent opinions (Benkler, 2006; Kim, 2014; Wang, 2018). Hence,
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
it seems promising to make online opinion more diverse, making society overall more democratic and open-minded.
Nevertheless, SNSs use might lead to selective avoidance and turn out to be a negative effect. Based on the cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957), individuals are inclined to seek out information consistent with their pre-existing perspective (Knobloch-Westerwick & Meng, 2011; Stroud, 2008, 2010). With the algorithm on SNSs, it accelerates the formation of echo chambers and filter bubbles. Instead of accepting the inconsistent perspectives and mitigating the differences, individuals usually reinforce their existing opinions, leading to increased attitude extremity (Bakshy et al. 2015; Bessi et al. 2016; Matakos, Terzi, & Tsaparas, 2017). Empirically, several studies have been done regarding how social media intervenes in public opinion on controversial social issues (Chung, 2018). However, whether SNSs use influence individuals’ attitude certainty thus mitigates the polarized opinion has been under controversy. Some argued that SNSs facilitate polarization by filtering out disagreement and make people “wall themselves” (Sunstein, 2001; Stroud, 2010). While other findings have revealed that social media expose individuals to divergent views, increases the frequency of heterogeneous discussion, thereby making public attitudes toward conflict issues more tolerant (Bimber, 2008; Hampton et al., 2011). Past studies have examined how heterogeneous discussion plays a role in users’ opinions towards social issues (Shih, Scheufele & Brossard, 2012; Shi, 2016). In addition, research regarding online friendship formation and dissolution behavior has been conducted (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Sibona & Walczak, 2011; Sibona, 2014). Surveys pointed out that 14% of Facebook users have ever unfriended others or hidden posts because they disagreed. Selective avoidance is considered to influence the heterogeneous information exposure and discussion on SNSs, further affect people’s attitude certainty
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
on public issues. Such mixed findings raise the need to expand our comprehension of the influencers to attitude certainty, especially in the social media environment.
So far, most relevant literature has been conducted either under the Western context or the field of political communication (Mutz, 2002, 2011; Mutz & Mondak, 2006; Lee et al., 2014). Less is known about whether heterogeneous discussion mediates the relationship between information exposure on SNS and attitude certainty in the Taiwanese context. Neither does much research have been investigated about the impact of selective avoidance on SNSs. Therefore, this study aimed to bridge the gap.
Realizing the underlying position and arguments can potentially help users formulate more robust perspectives on controversial issues, thus fostering their attitude formation.
Understanding the relationship between heterogeneous discussion and attitude certainty would make SNS a more democratic field of deliberation.
As a result, the purpose of this study is to explore the association between heterogeneous information exposure and attitude certainty towards controversial social issues. Furthermore, the indirect effect of heterogeneous discussion and the moderating role of selective avoidance were investigated. Four controversial social issues of the 2018 Taiwanese referendum, including the pension reform, legalization of same-sex marriage, implementation of the nuclear power plant, and air pollution led by the increasing coal-fired power generation, were selected in the current research. This study conducted a secondary data analysis collected by the Taiwan Institute for Governance and Communication Research (TIGCR). The fieldwork of a national survey on lay citizens was implemented from July 9, 2018, to November 23, 2018, regarding their perceptions towards controversial social issues, political polarization, political communication, and voting behavior. The findings demonstrated the positive
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
association between heterogeneous information exposure and attitude certainty in the Taiwanese context and expanded the understanding of selective avoidance on influencing attitude certainty.