Better informed or stay naïve? revisiting different types of selective exposure and the impact on political learning

Abstract

This study extends the concept of selective exposure by examining different types of selectivity, including topical selectivity (entertainment vs. hard news), information channel selectivity (social media vs. traditional media), and ideological selectivity (like-minded vs. cross-cutting exposure). Drawing on a two-wave panel survey of American netizens (N = 834), this study revisits the debate about the potential of selective exposure to enhance or erode political learning. Results show that both topical and information channel selectivity directly reduce audience’s political knowledge while ideological selectivity does not significantly affect political learning. Topical selectivity reduces political knowledge indirectly through decreased offline political discussion, while ideological selectivity enhances political knowledge gain indirectly through increased offline political discussion. Online political discussion fails to mediate the relationships between all three types of selectivity and political knowledge since it does not have a significant relationship with political knowledge. The findings imply that the prevalence of entertainment media and social media use may even enlarge existing political knowledge gaps. In addition, the political knowledge gained by ideological selective exposure is also dangerous because it could be less comprehensive, unbalanced, and attitudinally biased.