Does Social Media Use Polarize or Depolarize Political Opinion in China? Explaining Opinion Polarization Within an Extended Communication Mediation Model

Abstract

In a major policy overhaul, China now allows couples to have up to three children, sparking a firestorm of contested opinions on social media. Drawing on an online survey of 802 Chinese social media users’ opinions toward this policy shift and guided by an extended communication mediation model, this study reveals the relationship between social media news exposure and opinion polarization. The analyses show that social media news exposure cannot directly affect opinion polarization, but it can indirectly affect polarization via several pathways. Overall, we argue that expression and interaction following news exposure and news elaboration can depolarize people’s political views.