This thesis finds that the rise of cable television and the increase of social media usage need to be taken into account when understanding the increase of mass polarisation between 1992 and 2016...Show moreThis thesis finds that the rise of cable television and the increase of social media usage need to be taken into account when understanding the increase of mass polarisation between 1992 and 2016 in the United States. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter establishes that mass polarisation took place in the United States between 1992 and 2016. In the second chapter, attention is devoted to the rise of cable networks in the television landscape and its connection to the rise of mass polarisation. The third chapter focusses on the role of social media usage in the increase of mass polarisation in the United States between 1992 and 2016.Show less
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...Show moreThis 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.Show less
