The Effects of Medium Richness on Polarization

Computer mediated communication (CMC) such as social media is ubiquitous and essential to modern life, but concerns exist that it can increase polarization. This study examined the effects of medium richness (number of social cues) of messages on affective and opinion polarization. We hypothesized that a lower medium rich message (text) results in individuals developing more polarized views on both the issue and the people involved. Three hundred and fifty-four participants were recruited from CloudResearch’s Connect platform. Participants were surveyed on their gun control attitude, then shown one of four vignettes at random (video or text opposing or supporting gun control). The video conditions showed a White male in their late 20’s describing their opinion on gun control; the text conditions presented the same script but as a forum post. The vignette viewed and participant’s gun attitude determined the two independent variables, medium (video/text) and alignment (aligned/not-aligned). Participants filled out a questionnaire on how well they respected the opinion displayed (opinion confidence) and how much they liked the person in the vignette (likability). Results indicated that participants who viewed an opinion similar to theirs (aligned) reported higher likability and opinion confidence regardless of medium. More importantly, the interaction effect was significant for likability. The difference in likability between the aligned and not-aligned text conditions was significantly greater than the difference between the aligned and not-aligned video conditions. Thus, the text condition was more polarizing and the hypothesis that fewer social cues in communication medium increase polarization is partially supported.