Political Identity Threats on Social Media
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: One appealing explanation for the dismal state of digital politics in the U.S. is that social media offer abundant threats to users’ political identities. This paper provides a theoretical and empirical foundation for studying political identity threats on social media. A pilot study ( N = 931) established that individuals can recognize both realistic and symbolic threats when they explicitly appear in TikTok videos, but that, (a) threat types are not as discrete as theory suggests and (b) sensitivity to symbolic threat depends on strength of partisan identity. A second, pre-registered experimental study ( N = 1,279) found that the presence of explicit threats to political ingroups/outgroups influenced emotions and willingness to engage politically on social media. These effects were mediated by threat recognition and often larger for those with stronger partisan identities. This research sets an agenda for studying the presence and effects of explicitly identity-threatening social media content.
Source: Communication Research
Authors: Daniel S. Lane, Yifei Wang, Alcides Velasquez
Institutions: University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Kansas
Language: English
Topic: Social Media and Politics
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,900
OpenAlex ID: W7160626144