Selectively Social Politics: The Differing Roles of Media Use on Political Discussion

In the modern media environment, people are afforded a variety of options for political information. In addition, people now use multiple media sources (e.g., television, radio, blogs) to obtain information about all aspects of politics (Eveland, 2004; Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 2009). The purpose of this study was to examine how use of particular media sources influenced the frequency of political discussion with people from the same political party (political in-group members) and people from a different political party (political out-group members). Guided by a uses and gratifications perspective, which emphasizes the role of the user in media effects, we examined how specific user background characteristics (e.g., age, sex, political opinion leadership, political social identity, political content affinity), motives for using traditional and social media for political information, and use of different media sources work together to influence discussion with political in-group and out-group members. Our results allowed us to identify several distinct differences between people who talk to political in-group and out-group members.