Cross-Partisan Interaction in Online Discussion Groups

Join the Cyber Policy Center, together with the Program on Democracy and the Internet on Tuesday, February 28, from Noon–1 PM Pacific, for Cross-Partisan Interaction in Online Discussion Groups, a discussion with Talia Stroud. The session will moderated by Nate Persily, Co-Director of the CPC and James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School.

Levels of polarization in the United States have increased, leading some to worry about the future of productive cross-partisan interactions that are critical for democracy. This concern is based on whether people have the opportunity to interact with those who do not share their views and whether, if given the opportunity, the outcomes are positive. Two streams of research provide hope. First, cross-partisan interactions happen in non-political spaces, such as online discussion groups. Second, intergroup contact theory proposes that interactions between opposing groups can reduce prejudice, particularly when group members bond over shared identities. Yet, whether and when cross-partisan exposure in online discussion groups results in depolarization requires additional research. This talk will share the results of a three-week long study of cross-partisan parents on Reddit (n = 323) who were randomly assigned to subreddits that focused on one of three topics: (1) politics, (2) parenting, or (3) parenting with some politics inserted nearly two weeks into the study period. Findings indicate that the addition of political commentary into the parenting group resulted in more negative group experiences, suggesting limitations on the hopes that cross-partisan interaction in non-political online spaces can generate more favorable attitudes toward the political opposition. We extend these findings by analyzing Reddit data to see what happens when politics comes up in parenting subreddits.

This session is part of the Winter Seminar Series, a series spanning January through March, hosted at the Cyber Policy Center with the Program on Democracy and the Internet. Sessions are in-person and virtual, with in-person attendance offered to Stanford affiliates only. Lunch is provided for in-person attendance.

In person attendance is available to Stanford affiliates and virtual attendance via zoom is open to the public; registration is required.

About the Speaker

Natalie (Talia) Jomini Stroud, Ph.D., is the E. M. "Ted" Dealey Professor of the Business of Journalism and is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and the School of Journalism and Media, as well as the founding and current Director of the Center for Media Engagement (mediaengagement.org) in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin. She helped to found New _Public, an organization working to improve digital public space and she serves as one of the academic research co-leads on the U.S. 2020 Facebook & Instagram Election Study. Stroud’s research on the media’s role in a democracy has received numerous national and international awards, including the International Communication Association (ICA)'s prestigious Outstanding Book Award for her book Niche News: The Politics of News Choice, and the inaugural Journalism Studies Public Engagement Award.