CORE Lecture: Are Online Political Influencers Accelerating Democratic Deconsolidation? (Rachel Gibson)

Social media campaigning is increasingly linked with anti-democratic outcomes, with concerns to date centring on paid adverts, rather than organic content produced by a new set of online ‘political ‘influencers’ (OPIs). This study systematically compares voter exposure to these new campaign actors with candidate sponsored ads, as well as established and newer media sources during the U.S. 2020 Presidential election. Specifically we examine how far higher exposure to these sources is linked with key trends identified in the democratic deconsolidation thesis. We use data from a national YouGov survey designed to measure digital campaign exposure to test our hypotheses. Findings show that while higher exposure to OPIs is linked to more extremist opinions, followers are not disengaging from conventional politics. Exposure to paid political ads, however, is confirmed as a potential source of growing distrust in political institutions.

Rachel Gibson is a Professor of Politics at the University of Manchester, specializing in the impact of digital technologies on election campaigns. Her research takes a comparative approach, focusing on political developments in the UK, the U.S., Germany, Australia, and France. She is currently leading a five-year study on Digital Campaigning and Electoral Democracy (DiCED), funded by the European Research Council, and is a Principal Investigator for the Norface project on Data-Driven Campaigning. With extensive experience, she has served as Principal Investigator of the Australian Election Study since 2001 and co-directed the internet component of the British Election Study (iBES) in 2015.