The Political Economy of Social Media

Edited by Filipe R. Campante, Ruben Durante and Andrea TeseiThe Political Economy of Social Media 9 781912179800ISBN 978-1-912179-80-0187 boulevard Saint-Germain | 75007 Paris | France33 Great Sutton Street | LONDON EC1V 0DX | UK TEL: +44 (0)20 7183 8801 | EMAIL: CEPR@CEPR.ORGWWW.CEPR.ORGThe emergence of social media has reshaped the way humans communicate, interact and coordinate with each other. Assessing the impact of that transformation on politics has been one of the great social science questions of the last or decade or so, and will continue to occupy researchers for a long time to come. This book provides a snapshot of how economists in particular have been trying to answer this question. It contains 18 chapters, written by some of the leading scholars working on the topic, summarising empirical evidence on different dimensions of the political impact of social media. The book starts by considering how social media platforms have affected the overall wellbeing of their users. It then goes over how they have changed the behaviour of voters, particularly through news consumption, and whether it can be linked to phenomena such as increased polarisation or the rise of populism. The next section looks at how politicians have responded to the new environment, and how that in turn has affected elections. The following two sections address the coordination role of social media, asking how it has affected political mobilisation and, on the negative side, the spread of political hatred. Another section focuses on how social media has changed politics in the autocratic context of China. Lastly, the final chapters shed light on how the political role of other, so-called legacy media has been impacted by the new technologies. Put together, the contributions described in this book showcase how the ubiquity of social media, the nature of the networks that emerge through it, and the absence of barriers to entry in producing and broadcasting content all converge to make this technology a uniquely consequential transformation in the media environment.The Political Economy of Social Media The Political Economy of Social Media WITH SUPPORT OF CEPR PARIS FOUNDING PARTNERS CEPR PRESSCentre for Economic Policy Research187 boulevard Saint-Germain75007, Paris, France 33 Great Sutton StreetLondon, EC1V 0DX, UKTel: +44 (0)20 7183 8801Email: cepr@cepr.orgWeb: www.cepr.org ISBN: 978-1-912179-80-0Copyright © CEPR Press The Political Economy of Social Media Edited by Filipe R. Campante, Ruben Durante and Andrea Tesei CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH (CEPR)The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is a network of over 1,700 research economists based mostly in European universities. The Centre’s goal is twofold: to promote world-class research, and to get the policy-relevant results into the hands of key decision-makers. CEPR’s guiding principle is ‘Research excellence with policy relevance’. It was founded in the UK in 1983, where it is a Charity, and in November 2019 CEPR initiated the creation of an Association under French law, in order to provide a vehicle for an expansion in France. The members of the Conseil d’Administration of the Association are identical to the UK Board of Trustees.CEPR is independent of all public and private interest groups. It takes no institutional stand on economic policy matters and its core funding comes from its Institutional Members, projects that it runs and sales of publications. Because it draws on such a large network of researchers, its output reflects a broad spectrum of individual viewpoints as well as perspectives drawn from civil society. CEPR research may include views on policy, but the Trustees/members of the Conseil d’Administration of the Association do not give prior review to its publications. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and not those of CEPR.Chair of the Board Sir Charlie BeanFounder and Honorary President Richard PortesPresident Beatrice Weder di MauroVice Presidents Maristella Botticini Philippe Martin Ugo Panizza Mar Reguant Hélène ReyChief Executive Officer Tessa Ogden ContentsForeword viiIntroduction 9Filipe R. Campante, Ruben Durante and Andrea TeseiSection 1 Welfare effects of social media1 The welfare effects of social media 25Hunt Allcott, Luca Braghieri, Sarah Eichmeyer and Matthew Gentzkow2 Social media and mental health 31Luca Braghie