Political Unfriending

16 December 2022

Political Unfriending: A Comparative Study of Selective Avoidance on Social Media in Western Democracies

When people encounter dissonant speech on social media, functions such as hiding comments, unfriending and unfollowing friends may reinforce the behaviour of selective avoidance in order to re-establish more homophilous environments online. Dr Marko SKORIC of CityU’s Department of Media and Communication conducted a comparative study with his team on the selective avoidance behaviour of social media users in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.