WhatsApp as a political information channel in Spain: credibility, user profile, and content sharing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.nov.19Keywords:
Political information, Political communication, Journalism, Fake news, Credibility, Content sharing, Instant messaging, WhatsAppAbstract
Mobile instant messaging has changed our communication habits. It has become the main communication channel between people through electronic devices and a new channel that can provide information about politics as well as allow interaction with it. For this reason, the main objectives of this research are: (a) to identify how Spanish citizens use WhatsApp as a political information tool, (b) to understand how Spanish citizens react to political information received via this platform, and (c) to analyze whether political information is shared in groups on the application and evaluate its level of credibility. A quantitative methodology is used in this research through the design of an online survey with a sample of 1,669 representative Spanish citizens, realized by the demographic studies company YouGov and weighted by sex, age, and area of residence. The study concludes that instant messaging has become clearly established in the Spanish communicative ecosystem, with 64% of Spanish people receiving at least one piece of news about political issues weekly through WhatsApp and 24% receiving five or more per week.
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