Zumofen, Guillaume (2022). What Drives the Selection of Political Information on Google? Tension Between Ideal Democracy and the Influence of Ranking. Swiss Political Science Review, 29(1), pp. 120-138. Wiley 10.1111/spsr.12545
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The emergence of the Internet has altered how individuals obtain information—this also applies to political information. Search engines have taken over the role of political infor- mation gatekeepers, thus becoming key players in democ- racy. However, surprisingly little is known about the role of search engines in the political information process, that is, whether they represent an opportunity or a threat to democ- racy. Through an online survey experiment, which mimicked a Google web interface, this study examines how Swiss citizens select political information on a political news event from a Google search results page. Although citizens consider textual cues from snippets, they are more likely to select sources of information from the top of a Google results page, regardless of the source. We discuss these findings from a democratic theory perspective.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Institute of Political Science |
UniBE Contributor: |
Zumofen, Guillaume |
Subjects: |
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science |
ISSN: |
1662-6370 |
Publisher: |
Wiley |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Guillaume Zumofen |
Date Deposited: |
09 Nov 2022 14:31 |
Last Modified: |
05 Mar 2023 02:12 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1111/spsr.12545 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
algorithmic personalization, political information selection, referendum, search engines, selective exposure |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/174621 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/174621 |
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