The effects of mass media on individuals’ political behaviour and attitudes have never been consensual throughout history. While scholars notoriously overestimated the persuasive effect of mass media until the seventies, this study then drastically entered a phase of understood minimal (or non-existent) effects. This picture changed in late eighties/early nineties when mechanisms such as agenda-setting and framing started to become better understood. Nowadays, particularly since the development of the Web 2.0 and the proliferation of user-generated content, far more attention has been given to mass media effects and, particularly, the impact of the Internet on civic and political engagement.
Due to its unique characteristics, such as speed and resistance to mediation, the internet was initially hyped and perceived by scholars as a media that would eventually level the playing field for parties, reverse the erosion of social capital and strengthen democracy. Indeed, some authors found that exposure to Internet can have a positive impact on political engagement and participation. However, in the last years, scholars have been raising concerns about the effect of the Internet, particularly the social media, on public opinion. Studies have shown that discussions on Social Media are often characterized by ideological polarization, with these platforms working as echo chambers that spread misinformation, foster confirmation bias and increase segregation. The WEF went further and considered the SNS one of the biggest threats to democracy. Indeed, some recent electoral outcomes such as Trump’s and Bolsonaro’s elections, the Brexit referendum, as well as the relative success of several anti-establishment or populist parties (e.g. M5S), have been, one way or the other, associated with the use of Internet.
Built on the puzzling effect of the Internet on politics, the research question of this papers is whether, and to what extent, in the context of the European integration process and the 2019 EP elections, the individuals’ media diet, particularly the use of the Internet and different online platforms (such as social media), has an impact on their political attitudes and behaviour. The paper is particularly interested in examining if the ‘preference’ for information in fast and image-centred media platforms (more conducive to manipulation and less thinking) is positively associated with more Eurosceptic attitudes, higher levels of political cynicism and vote for fringe and Eurosceptic parties. More concretely, we expect that individuals that followed the 2009 EP campaign on the Internet, being a non-mediated media with diverse information and fast moving images (that accommodate better advertising and manipulation), are likelier to exhibit more Eurosceptic attitudes compared to individuals that prefer media, such as the press, purportedly more conducive to thinking.
This research question is analysed using a two waves’ survey with 15,535 observations from six different countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain). The fact that the first wave was conducted in mid-January and the second right after the 2019 EP elections gives us the opportunity to examine, using a panel with 3,251 respondents from those countries, the potential impact that media had, particularly the Internet, in the last European elections.
