Repository logo
 

Political peersuasion: an investigation of the impact of social influence on Facebook

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorHansen, Scott, author
dc.contributor.authorKim, Jangyul, advisor
dc.contributor.authorSivakumar, Gaya, committee member
dc.contributor.authorMacDonald, Bradley, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-09T20:51:04Z
dc.date.available2024-09-09T20:51:04Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractSince Facebook began in the mid-2000s, people have used the platform to present their own opinions, whether or not those opinions were popular. Thus, Facebook became a veritable marketplace of ideas, where opinions ranging on a variety of topics were shared, discussed, and potentially persuaded by their online friends. As politics have divided the nation across political spectrums to an extreme degree, Facebook has been a platform where opinions of a political nature have also been shared, discussed, and argued. This study examined the persuasive power Facebook users have over their online friends in a political context, specifically on the topic of vaccines. Results showed that source credibility can exist in a horizontal fashion rather than just a vertical one, where people trust their peers' political opinions, especially when they seem to be politically active, aware and knowledgeable. Additionally, the frequency with which peers on Facebook interact and the level of influence they have was shown to be a statistically significant result. The more people interact with each other over the mediated Facebook platform, the more trust, credibility, and level of persuasiveness is also increased. Due to the ability of Facebook to serve as a personal soap box of opinions, and people's willingness to state their opinions, the possibility of persuasion can exist on Facebook in some cases more than if they were talking face to face.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierHansen_colostate_0053N_18385.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/239108
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2020-
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectFacebook
dc.subjectpolitics
dc.subjectvaccines
dc.subjectpersuasion
dc.subjectCOVID
dc.subjectsocial media
dc.titlePolitical peersuasion: an investigation of the impact of social influence on Facebook
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineJournalism and Media Communication
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Hansen_colostate_0053N_18385.pdf
Size:
462.3 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

2020-
Theses and Dissertations