Publicação
The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society
| Resumo: | The ideal of the open society, grounded in rational deliberation and pluralism, faces growing challenges in the digital age. This study examines how affective polarization—characterized by emotional hostility and antagonism across political identities—and populist sentiments among young Portuguese voters (ages 18–21) reshape democratic discourse, with a focus on the role of social media platforms. Based on a sample of 130 first-time voters in the April 2024 legislative elections, the results show that individuals with populist attitudes are 27% more likely to exhibit affective polarization. Moreover, support for radical right narratives is associated with a 27.6% increase in polarization. Notably, X (formerly Twitter) is associated with higher levels of affective polarization than Instagram, highlighting the differential effects of platform architectures. The study provides empirical evidence for the mediating role of digital platforms in fostering discursive fragmentation and ideological antagonism. It contributes to theories of digital democracy and political communication by clarifying how algorithmic environments intensify group-based hostility and undermine the normative foundations of the open society. |
|---|---|
| Autores principais: | Ferreira, Gil |
| Outros Autores: | Ferreira, Lourenço Silva |
| Assunto: | open society affective polarization populism young voters social networks radical right digital democracy |
| Ano: | 2025 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | artigo |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra |
| _version_ | 1868801023359844352 |
|---|---|
| author | Ferreira, Gil |
| author2 | Ferreira, Lourenço Silva |
| author2_role | author |
| author_facet | Ferreira, Gil Ferreira, Lourenço Silva |
| author_role | author |
| contributor_name_str_mv | Repositório Comum |
| country_str | PT |
| creators_json_txt | [{\"Person.name\":\"Ferreira, Gil\",\"Person.identifier.orcid\":\"0000-0002-5917-1248\"},{\"Person.name\":\"Ferreira, Lourenço Silva\"}] |
| datacite.contributors.contributor.contributorName.fl_str_mv | Repositório Comum |
| datacite.creators.creator.creatorName.fl_str_mv | Ferreira, Gil Ferreira, Lourenço Silva |
| datacite.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z |
| datacite.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2026-05-15T14:01:22Z |
| datacite.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2026-05-15T14:01:22Z |
| datacite.rights.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 |
| datacite.subjects.subject.fl_str_mv | open society affective polarization populism young voters social networks radical right digital democracy |
| datacite.titles.title.fl_str_mv | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv | Repositório Comum |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv | Ferreira, Gil Ferreira, Lourenço Silva |
| dc.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z |
| dc.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2026-05-15T14:01:22Z |
| dc.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2026-05-15T14:01:22Z |
| dc.format.none.fl_str_mv | application/pdf |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/63159 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv | eng |
| dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv | MDPI AG |
| dc.rights.cclincense.fl_str_mv | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv | open society affective polarization populism young voters social networks radical right digital democracy |
| dc.title.fl_str_mv | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 |
| description | The ideal of the open society, grounded in rational deliberation and pluralism, faces growing challenges in the digital age. This study examines how affective polarization—characterized by emotional hostility and antagonism across political identities—and populist sentiments among young Portuguese voters (ages 18–21) reshape democratic discourse, with a focus on the role of social media platforms. Based on a sample of 130 first-time voters in the April 2024 legislative elections, the results show that individuals with populist attitudes are 27% more likely to exhibit affective polarization. Moreover, support for radical right narratives is associated with a 27.6% increase in polarization. Notably, X (formerly Twitter) is associated with higher levels of affective polarization than Instagram, highlighting the differential effects of platform architectures. The study provides empirical evidence for the mediating role of digital platforms in fostering discursive fragmentation and ideological antagonism. It contributes to theories of digital democracy and political communication by clarifying how algorithmic environments intensify group-based hostility and undermine the normative foundations of the open society. |
| dirty | 0 |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| format | article |
| fulltext.url.fl_str_mv | https://comum.rcaap.pt/bitstreams/11e3708d-ff3f-41e2-88a5-0fef93c4fc74/download |
| id | ipc_271b61aebbbeb6db3a8f5897f11bb1fd |
| identifier.url.fl_str_mv | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/63159 |
| instacron_str | ipc |
| institution | Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra |
| instname_str | Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra |
| language | eng |
| network_acronym_str | ipc |
| network_name_str | Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:comum.rcaap.pt:10400.26/63159 |
| organization_str_mv | urn:organizationAcronym:ipc |
| person_str_mv | Ferreira, Gil Ferreira, Gil https://www.ciencia-id.pt/021D-6116-50EF 021D-6116-50EF http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5917-1248 0000-0002-5917-1248 Ferreira, Lourenço Silva |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher.none.fl_str_mv | MDPI AG |
| reponame_str | Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra |
| repository_id_str | urn:repositoryAcronym:ipc |
| service_str_mv | urn:repositoryAcronym:ipc |
| spelling | engMDPI AGengThe ideal of the open society, grounded in rational deliberation and pluralism, faces growing challenges in the digital age. This study examines how affective polarization—characterized by emotional hostility and antagonism across political identities—and populist sentiments among young Portuguese voters (ages 18–21) reshape democratic discourse, with a focus on the role of social media platforms. Based on a sample of 130 first-time voters in the April 2024 legislative elections, the results show that individuals with populist attitudes are 27% more likely to exhibit affective polarization. Moreover, support for radical right narratives is associated with a 27.6% increase in polarization. Notably, X (formerly Twitter) is associated with higher levels of affective polarization than Instagram, highlighting the differential effects of platform architectures. The study provides empirical evidence for the mediating role of digital platforms in fostering discursive fragmentation and ideological antagonism. It contributes to theories of digital democracy and political communication by clarifying how algorithmic environments intensify group-based hostility and undermine the normative foundations of the open society.application/pdfengThe Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open SocietyPersonalFerreira, GilDSpacehttp://dspace.org/items/c53191a0-00b7-4e9f-a4dc-0ba8b4188580DSpacehttp://dspace.org/items/c53191a0-00b7-4e9f-a4dc-0ba8b4188580FerreiraGilCiência IDhttps://www.ciencia-id.pt021D-6116-50EFORCIDhttp://orcid.org0000-0002-5917-1248Scopus Author IDhttps://www.scopus.com57197781501Ferreira, Lourenço SilvaHostingInstitutionOrganizationalRepositório Comume-mailmailto:comum@rcaap.ptcomum@rcaap.ptISSNIsPartOf2076-0760DOIIsPartOf10.3390/socsci140905422026-05-15T14:01:22Z20252025-01-01T00:00:00ZHandlehttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/63159http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2open accessopen societyaffective polarizationpopulismyoung voterssocial networksradical rightdigital democracy2877476 bytesliteraturehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501journal article2025http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2application/pdffulltexthttps://comum.rcaap.pt/bitstreams/11e3708d-ff3f-41e2-88a5-0fef93c4fc74/downloadSocial Sciences149117 |
| spellingShingle | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society Ferreira, Gil open society affective polarization populism young voters social networks radical right digital democracy |
| status | SINGLETON |
| subject.fl_str_mv | open society affective polarization populism young voters social networks radical right digital democracy |
| title | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| title_full | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| title_fullStr | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| title_short | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| title_sort | The Polarization Paradox: Social Media, Young Voters, and the Challenges to the Open Society |
| topic | open society affective polarization populism young voters social networks radical right digital democracy |
| topic_facet | open society affective polarization populism young voters social networks radical right digital democracy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/63159 |
| visible | 1 |