Work

Social media, education, and the rise of populist Euroscepticism

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: This paper studies how the diffusion of skeptical or negative attitudes towards the European Union (EU) and the process of European integration relates to the new technologies of political communication, education, and their interaction. Using both European-wide and national surveys, we find a strong relationship between exposure to online political activity and Euroscepticism only among individuals with lower formal education. When distinguishing between different forms of online political activity it also finds that it is not the use of the internet per se that matters, but the specific use of social networks, like Twitter or Facebook, for obtaining information about politics. These results turn out to be robust to the use of instrumental variables intended to capture the speed of connection available and the relative easiness of using internet and social media.

Source: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01317-y

Authors: Piergiuseppe Fortunato, Marco Pecoraro

Institutions: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, University of Neuchâtel

Language: English

Topic: Social Media and Politics

Subfield: Communication

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,490