People who rely on social media as the main source of news score lower on a measure of civic values than people who rely on newspapers and non-commercial media for news and information, according to a study by researchers at Monash University.
The study was led by Professor Mark Andrejevic and Associate Professor Zala Volcic both in Media Studies at Monash University's Faculty of Arts.
“It has become something of a truism that social media is not great for democracy,” said Professor Andrejevic. “But no one has really systematically tested that until now.”
The study of more than 2,000 Australians asked people a range of questions about their belief in democratic institutions and practices as well as their openness to considering perspectives that challenge their own. It also asked whether they thought there was such a thing as a shared public interest and how important they thought it was for Australians to inform themselves about political issues and for schools to teach civics.
Almost 60 per cent of respondents who said their main source of information about news and current events is social media fell in the bottom half of the scale. By contrast, the majority of people who relied on newspapers, non-commercial broadcasting (such as the ABC), and online news aggregators were in the top half of the scale.
Interestingly, people who relied on commercial TV scored even lower than those who rely on social media: 63 per cent were in the bottom half of the scale. Those who scored highest relied primarily on non-commercial radio (67 per cent in the top half of the scale).
When it came to average scores, people who relied on non-commercial radio scored
11 per cent higher on the civic disposition index than those who said they mainly rely on social media.
There were similar results when the researchers looked at people’s pattern of media use: those who were heavy users (more than three hours a day) of commercial broadcast and social media had the lowest scores, whereas heavy users of non-commercial media, hard copy newspapers, and online news aggregators had the highest.
“We also found that people who use a wider range of media sources tend to score higher on the civic values scale,” said Professor Andrejevic. He and Associate Professor Volcic collaborated on the study with Research Fellow Isabel Mahoney, and Research Assistant Fae Gehren (all from Monash’s School of Media, Film, and Journalism).
The study does not indicate whether platforms foster lower civic values or simply cater to them. It does, however, raise concerns about social media becoming an increasingly important source of political information in democratic societies like Australia, especially given the renewed emphasis on political posts by Facebook.
The study also sheds new light on the ongoing discussion about media echo chambers and filter bubbles. Professor Andrejevic said the results highlight the importance of understanding not just what information people receive, but their attitude toward it.
“If platforms cater to people who aren’t willing to test their opinions and arguments out, providing them with more accurate information might not be enough,” he said.
Moreover, it raises questions about the decision by social media moguls to increasingly crowdsource fact checking to users, rather than doing it in-house.
For such an approach to work, both citizen journalists and their readers need to value the role of good-faith deliberation in civic life.
“Overall, the online space might not be the best one to rely on if you’re looking for these values,” Professor Andrejevic said.
The study was designed in collaboration with Essential Research, who conduct one of Australia’s leading and most respected social and political polls. This report is part of a Discovery Project for the Australian Research Council.
The survey’s top-line findings can be found here.
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