AN ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL MEDIA’S EFFECT ON THE POLARIZATION OF POLITICS

Abstract

This thesis explores the factors of Social Media that contribute to the polarization of political identities within the United States. Factors such as: The Echo Chamber, the Filter Bubble, Confirmation Bias, and reduction of Homophily in the online forum. This research contains quantitative and qualitative data collected from various research papers, articles, data sets from existing online surveys, and opinion pieces written by major news outlets. Results can confirm the notion that social media does have an effect on the dissemination of information to users - in that the users’ behavior online directly contributes to who and what they are shown. Results also concluded that there are indeed filter bubbles and echo chambers that form within peer groups online, regardless of the users’ political affiliation.