Long-term Fluctuations in Polarization in Brazil – Analysis of Political Information Sharing Between 2011 and 2019

ABSTRACT

The specialized literature on the polarization of political information circulation within digital media has pointed to the structural segregation of news consumption along the ideological spectrum. These findings support the idea of relatively stable filter bubbles encapsulating the vision of the political world. This research questions whether these patterns hold long-term or are conditioned by moments of high tension, such as national elections. To this end, it quantitatively investigates the links cited in 7.7 million Facebook posts between 2011 and 2019 by the site’s pages with social networking analysis techniques within left-wing and right-wing clusters. The results highlight polarization dynamics that are not airtight – that instead fluctuate according to the layout of the political system. Its main contribution is that it demonstrates the nuances of polarization: identifying not necessarily segregated poles but temporal, political, and media factors that arouse and calm information insularity.

communication; politics; polarization; information; social media