Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs
Abstract In an era marked by an abundance of news sources, access to information significantly influences public opinion. Notably, the bias of news sources often serves as an indicator of individuals’ political leanings. This study explores this hypothesis by examining the news sharing behavior of p...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84110-y |
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| author | Sofía M. del Pozo Sebastián Pinto Matteo Serafino Federico Moss Tomás Cicchini Hernán A. Makse Pablo Balenzuela |
| author_facet | Sofía M. del Pozo Sebastián Pinto Matteo Serafino Federico Moss Tomás Cicchini Hernán A. Makse Pablo Balenzuela |
| author_sort | Sofía M. del Pozo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In an era marked by an abundance of news sources, access to information significantly influences public opinion. Notably, the bias of news sources often serves as an indicator of individuals’ political leanings. This study explores this hypothesis by examining the news sharing behavior of politically active social media users, whose political ideologies were identified in a previous study. Using correspondence analysis, we estimate the Media Sharing Index (MSI), a measure that captures bias in media outlets and user preferences within a hidden space. During Argentina’s 2019 election on Twitter, we observed a predictable pattern: center-right individuals predominantly shared media from center-right biased outlets. However, it is noteworthy that those with center-left inclinations displayed a more diverse media consumption, which is a significant finding. Despite a noticeable polarization based on political affiliation observed in a retweet network analysis, center-left users showed more diverse media sharing preferences, particularly concerning the MSI. Although these findings are specific to Argentina, the developed methodology can be applied in other countries to assess the correlation between users’ political leanings and the media they share. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a36258b16ed245bfb601088124f3d889 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-a36258b16ed245bfb601088124f3d8892025-01-05T12:22:01ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-011511910.1038/s41598-024-84110-yEvaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefsSofía M. del Pozo0Sebastián Pinto1Matteo Serafino2Federico Moss3Tomás Cicchini4Hernán A. Makse5Pablo Balenzuela6Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresDepartamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresLevich Institute and Physics Department, City College of New YorkDepartamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresDepartamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresLevich Institute and Physics Department, City College of New YorkDepartamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresAbstract In an era marked by an abundance of news sources, access to information significantly influences public opinion. Notably, the bias of news sources often serves as an indicator of individuals’ political leanings. This study explores this hypothesis by examining the news sharing behavior of politically active social media users, whose political ideologies were identified in a previous study. Using correspondence analysis, we estimate the Media Sharing Index (MSI), a measure that captures bias in media outlets and user preferences within a hidden space. During Argentina’s 2019 election on Twitter, we observed a predictable pattern: center-right individuals predominantly shared media from center-right biased outlets. However, it is noteworthy that those with center-left inclinations displayed a more diverse media consumption, which is a significant finding. Despite a noticeable polarization based on political affiliation observed in a retweet network analysis, center-left users showed more diverse media sharing preferences, particularly concerning the MSI. Although these findings are specific to Argentina, the developed methodology can be applied in other countries to assess the correlation between users’ political leanings and the media they share.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84110-yNews sharingSocial mediaCorrespondence analysisPolitical leanings. |
| spellingShingle | Sofía M. del Pozo Sebastián Pinto Matteo Serafino Federico Moss Tomás Cicchini Hernán A. Makse Pablo Balenzuela Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs Scientific Reports News sharing Social media Correspondence analysis Political leanings. |
| title | Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs |
| title_full | Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs |
| title_short | Evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs |
| title_sort | evaluating the relationship between news source sharing and political beliefs |
| topic | News sharing Social media Correspondence analysis Political leanings. |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84110-y |
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