Personality, networks, and heterogeneous discussion on Facebook

ABSTRACT

We use survey data collected in 2021 in four countries (Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to examine the role of extraversion and open-mindedness in predicting discussion on Facebook. We focus on discussions with people holding different views about politics and COVID-19. Using a preregistered analysis plan, we find extraversion predicts participation in heterogeneous discussions on Facebook; this finding is replicated across four countries and two topics of discussion. Openness does not have a significant role in engagement in heterogeneous discussions. This research sheds light on the role of platform algorithms in generating echo chambers.

KEYWORDS:

• Facebook
• political discussion
• personality traits
• social networks
• survey

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2024.2340624

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Government of Canada [Digital Citizenship Initiative].

Notes on contributors

Shelley Boulianne

Shelley Boulianne, (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an associated researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin. Previously, she held professor positions at Université Catholique de Lille (France) and MacEwan University (Canada). Her research examines the global dynamics of digital media use for citizens’ engagement in civic and political life using meta-analysis, surveys, experiments, and content analysis.

Thomas Galipeau

Thomas Galipeau is a doctoral student in political science at the University of Toronto since 2021. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in political science, both obtained at the University of Montreal. His work focuses on political psychology and more specifically partisan biases. His research focuses on how these biases affect the processing of information, particularly in the context of social media, and what are its impacts for democratic citizenship.