Did Facebook help Trump in the 2020 election?


June 4, 2024

Psypost
A recent study has illuminated the ways in which Facebook and Instagram influenced, and did not influence, political knowledge, polarization, and behavior during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. By deactivating accounts for a portion of participants in the weeks leading up to the election, researchers were able to isolate the effects of these platforms on users’ political engagement and perceptions.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, offers the most extensive evidence to date on how access to social networking platforms impact attitudes and behaviors during a presidential election season.

Social media has been widely debated as a force affecting democracy, particularly in the United States. Concerns abound that these platforms might foster political polarization by creating ideological echo chambers. Others worry that social media might spread misinformation, thereby affecting voter knowledge and trust in the electoral process...

The study, “The effects of Facebook and Instagram on the 2020 election: A deactivation experiment,” was authored by Rebekah Tromble et al.
 

You can read the full article in PsyPost