Political information in social media and electoral participation: evidence from Chile using Full Matching

Summary

A large number of researches study the relationship between the use of  social media platforms and different forms of political participation. However, the evidence regarding the role of social media on the electoral turnout is limited, especially in the Latin America context. This research aims to analyze the relationship between the consumption of political information on Facebook and Twitter, and vote turnout in national elections in Chile. To do so, data from public opinion surveys that measure participation in the 2013 and 2017 elections (n=7,736) are used. The Full Matching (FM) technique is applied to reduce the (self)selection bias present in observational studies and to make valid comparisons. The results are compared before and after the application of FM, finding relevant differences. The results with FM indicate that exposure to political information on social media platformsis not associated with electoral participation in the period studied. This opens a discussion regarding the various types of use of platforms and electoral participation.