Feeling Polarized? An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Central Albertans Feelings in Response to Polarizing Content on Facebook

Affective polarization has become a growing problem in Canada (Boulianne & Belland, 2022; LaFleche, 2023; Marchand et al., 2020; Milloy, 2023). Despite this, most studies examining digital polarization explore the content, or technologies driving polarization, rather than the lived experience of users interacting with polarizing content (Boccia Artieri et al., 2021; Brady et al., 2017; A. Goldenberg & Willer, 2023). This research sought to address this gap by exploring the lived experiences of Central Albertans of encountering polarizing content on Facebook. Following an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, this study illuminated the roles of echo chambers, out-group animosity, fundamental attribution errors, and algorithms in affective polarization. The findings show that when users see toxic, algorithmically generated content, users then interpret such content and make negative assumptions about those who are posting in comment threads on Facebook. This process is leading to greater out-group animosity and demonstrates that these four conditions significantly shape the affective polarization conversation.

Author dc:creator

• Owen, Nancy, Joan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hodson, Jaigris

• College of interdisciplinary studies

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25316/IR-20476

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10613/28912