Cross-cutting exposures on social network sites. The moderating role of national environments

Abstract

This study explores how social network sites (SNSs) expose users to cross-cutting views. Relying on cross-national data collected among French and Japanese users of Facebook and Twitter, the design of this study allows assessment of the extent to which active and passive social media use fosters cross-cutting exposure in different national contexts. The results show that SNS use is differently related to cross-cutting exposures depending on forms of usage: while active SNS use is associated with a decrease in cross-cutting exposures, passive use leads to more exposure to dissonant views. This study also acknowledges significant variations across national subsamples, questioning the generalizability of results obtained from single case studies.