The story of social media: evolving news coverage of social media in American politics, 2006–2021

Abstract

This article examines how American news media have framed social media as political technologies over time. To do so, we analyzed 16 years of political news stories focusing on social media, published by American newspapers (N ¼ 8,218) and broadcasters (N ¼ 6,064) (2006–2021). Using automated content analysis, we found that coverage of social media in political news stories: (a) increasingly uses anxious, angry, and moral language, (b) is consistently focused on national politicians (vs. non-elite actors), and (c) increasingly emphasizes normatively negative uses (e.g., misinformation) and their remedies (i.e., regulation). In discussing these findings, we consider the ways that these prominent normative representations of social media may shape (and limit) their role in political life. Lay Summary This study considers how American news outlets have covered social media in the context of American politics from 2006 to 2021. By analyzing the words in political news stories focused on social media, we found that coverage has become more negative and moralized over time. We also observed that stories tend to focus on national politicians and emphasize the negative effects of social media on politics (e.g., misinformation). Findings lead us to consider how this type of coverage might be shaping (and limiting) our thinking about ways social media can positively impact American political life.