Twitter: While partisan opinion leaders are certainly polarized, centrist/non-political voices are much more likely to produce the most visible information; & there is little evidence of echo-chambers in consumption

Mukerjee, Subhayan, Kokil Jaidka, and Yphtach Lelkes. 2020. “The Ideological Landscape of Twitter: Comparing the Production Versus Consumption of Information on the Platform.” OSF Preprints. June 23. doi:10.31219/osf.io/w98ms

Abstract: There are mounting concerns that the information environment on Twitter is fragmented along ideological lines, with users ensconced into echo chambers with limited exposure to cross-cutting views. Previous studies have typically relied on small populations of political elites or opinion leaders to appraise this level of fragmentation. This study makes two main advancements over the existing body of literature. First, it identifies the need to make the distinction between information production and consumption. Second, it proposes weighted estimates of ideology, based on active use, to better assess the extent of polarization on the platform. Our analyses find little evidence that Twitter, at least in the United States, is polarized based on how information is produced by opinion leaders. While partisan opinion leaders are certainly polarized, centrist or non-political voices are much more likely to produce the most visible information on the platform. Analysis of co-exposure networks of how ordinary Americans follow these opinion leaders similarly reveals little evidence of echo-chambers in consumption. However, while the extent of ideological selective consumption is low, there does exist a small but dedicated audience for conservative opinion leaders on the platform.