Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries

Yannis Theocharis; Ana Cardenal; Soyeon Jin; Toril Aalberg; David Nicolas Hopmann; Jesper Strömbäck; Laia Castro; Frank Esser; Peter Van Aelst; Claes de Vreese; Nicoleta Corbu; Karolina Koc-Michalska; Joerg Matthes; Christian Schemer; Tamir Sheafer; Sergio Splendore; James Stanyer; Agnieszka Stępińska; Václav Štětka

doi:10.1177/14614448211045666

Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries

Yannis Theocharis^*, Ana Cardenal, Soyeon Jin, Toril Aalberg, David Nicolas Hopmann, Jesper Strömbäck, Laia Castro, Frank Esser, Peter Van Aelst, Claes de Vreese, Nicoleta Corbu, Karolina Koc-Michalska, Joerg Matthes, Christian Schemer, Tamir Sheafer, Sergio Splendore, James Stanyer, Agnieszka Stępińska, Václav Štětka

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

79 Scopus citations

Abstract

While the role of social media in the spread of conspiracy theories has received much attention, a key deficit in previous research is the lack of distinction between different types of platforms. This study places the role of social media affordances in facilitating the spread of conspiracy beliefs at the center of its enquiry. We examine the relationship between platform use and conspiracy theory beliefs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Relying on the concept of technological affordances, we theorize that variation across key features make some platforms more fertile places for conspiracy beliefs than others. Using data from a crossnational dataset based on a two-wave online survey conducted in 17 countries before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we show that Twitter has a negative effect on conspiracy beliefs—as opposed to all other platforms under examination which are found to have a positive effect.

Original language	English
Article number	12
Pages (from-to)	3412-3437
Number of pages	26
Journal	New Media and Society
Volume	25
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211045666
State	Published - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

Keywords

Affordances
COVID-19
conspiracy theories
misperceptions
social media

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10.1177/14614448211045666

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Theocharis, Y., Cardenal, A., Jin, S., Aalberg, T., Hopmann, D. N., Strömbäck, J., Castro, L., Esser, F., Van Aelst, P., de Vreese, C., Corbu, N., Koc-Michalska, K., Matthes, J., Schemer, C., Sheafer, T., Splendore, S., Stanyer, J., Stępińska, A., & Štětka, V. (2023). Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries. New Media and Society, 25(12), 3412-3437. Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211045666

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Theocharis, Y, Cardenal, A, Jin, S, Aalberg, T, Hopmann, DN, Strömbäck, J, Castro, L, Esser, F, Van Aelst, P, de Vreese, C, Corbu, N, Koc-Michalska, K, Matthes, J, Schemer, C, Sheafer, T, Splendore, S, Stanyer, J, Stępińska, A & Štětka, V 2023, 'Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries', New Media and Society, vol. 25, no. 12, 12, pp. 3412-3437. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211045666

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AU - Matthes, Joerg

AU - Schemer, Christian

AU - Sheafer, Tamir

AU - Splendore, Sergio

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AU - Štětka, Václav

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Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries

Abstract

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