Autor: Javier Martín Merchán

Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICAI-ICADE)/University of Edinburgh

 

Modalidad: Presencial

 

Abstract:

The use of private social media has rocketed in the last decade all around the globe. However, we still know little about the extent to which citizens see them as channels of political communication. Some studies have approached this matter, but predominantly focusing on the instrumentalization of these platforms’ public groups to spread misinformation in the Global South. In Brazil, for example, WhatsApp groups have been central for the organization of new extreme right movements as well as for the electoral success of Bolsonaro. A few other studies have examined the implications of discussing politics through these platforms but have failed to conceptualise the multifaceted nature of that discussion. These studies have also overlooked whether –and to what extent– such platforms constitute a singularly suitable environment for extreme rightists who feel uncomfortable expressing their political views in public. Thus, we lack a comprehensive understanding of whether and how exactly citizens utilize private social media for politics, including whereabouts information is accessed and political talk takes place, with whom, and why. In the same vein, though evidence on public social media tends to reject the fragmentation hypothesis, the privacy and strong-tie connections of private social media groups may provide a singular opportunity for homophilic expression and tribal in-grouping, hence potentially boosting polarisation, at least in its affective dimension. Empirical evidence on the latter is scant though. This paper addresses these gaps by focusing on WhatsApp. Harnessing the uniqueness of Spain, where 90% of the population uses this platform, we conduct a novel representative survey (n=800) on individuals’ WhatsApp political practices and complement this information with a comprehensive set of in-depth focus groups involving more than 50 participants. Building on these data, we show that WhatsApp incarnates some sort of “backstage theatre” where people differentially express ideas that would never be voiced in other public fora, a pattern which is singularly salient in the right-wing spectrum and, especially, in the extreme right. Moreover, we suggest that some WhatsApp usages are associated with higher levels of affective polarisation, even though this relationship is moderated by other factors, such as interest in politics or perceived party system polarisation. Overall, our findings suggest that the rising popularity of private social media amidst the broader world of digital platforms plays a role in deepening the erosion of our democracies and the growth of (iliberal) rightist forces.