Do Social Media Facilitate Political Learning? Social Media Use for News, Reasoning and Political Knowledge

Abstract

This study examines how using different types of social media for news predicts political knowledge. Drawing on a national survey, the present study finds that blogs and Twitter are positive predictors of political issue knowledge, while Facebook and YouTube are not. Using blogs for news predicts political personalities and process knowledge, but using Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube for news does not. Additionally, the present study reveals that political talk offline and online reinforces the impact of social media use for news on political issue knowledge.