But take a look at their smartphones, and you might discover a different, more chaotic world – in which news is being shaped less by publishers or foreign agents but by social media algorithms and friendship groups. Play Video Fiona, 22, looks up Jeremy Corbyn's family wealth on a far-right website - then posts about it. In this snapshot of online voter behaviour, news is often consumed through user-generated memes, posts by celebrity influencers, and politicians’ own social media accounts. Despite the large focus on paid-for Facebook adverts during this election, such material appeared rarely in users’ newsfeeds during the time that data was being collected. Revealing Reality’s analysis of the volunteers’ election news consumption concluded: “If everything that people are seeing is via social media – who is accountable?

Source: The Guardian December 05, 2019 12:58 UTC