Leiden University Student Repository

Knipscheer, Job (2017)

American Mass Polarisation; The Effect of Social Media News Consumption on Politics

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

This thesis finds that to a certain extent, social media news consumption has contributed to mass political polarisation in the United States between 2006 and 2016. The thesis is divided into four chapters to come to this conclusion. In the first chapter, multiple forms of political polarisation are scrutinised by means of a model. Secondly, literature on the topic is put in relation and context with each other. In the third chapter, attention is devoted to polarising mechanisms of Facebook and Twitter. In the last chapter, other possible causes of mass polarisation in the United States are related to social media news consumption as a cause.

Polarisation

Mass Polarisation

Social Media

News Consumption

United States

Facebook

Twitter

Author

Knipscheer, Job

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

North America

Supervisors

Bloemendal, Albertine

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en