Deliberate Exposure to Opposing Views and its Association with Behavior and Rewards on Political Communities
Keywords: Changemyview, Social rewards, Reddit, Politics
TL;DR: We study how users who expose themselves to opposing views on Reddit compare to other users in terms of behavior and upvotes/downvotes received in their home communities.
Abstract: Engaging with diverse political views is important for reaching better collective decisions, however, users online tend to remain confined within ideologically homogeneous spaces. In this work, we study users who are members of these spaces but who also show a willingness to engage with diverse views, as they have the potential to introduce more informational diversity into their communities. Across four Reddit communities (r/Conservative, r/The\_Donald, r/ChapoTrapHouse, r/SandersForPresident), we find that these users tend to use less hostile and more advanced and personable language, but receive fewer social rewards from their peers compared to others. We also find that social sanctions on the discussion community r/changemyview are insufficient to drive them out in the short term, though they may play a role over the longer term.
Track: Social Networks, Social Media, and Society
Submission Guidelines Scope: Yes
Submission Guidelines Blind: Yes
Submission Guidelines Format: Yes
Submission Guidelines Limit: Yes
Submission Guidelines Authorship: Yes
Student Author: Yes
Submission Number: 363
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