Spiral of Silence 2.0: Political Self-Censorship among Young Facebook Users

Abstract

This study applies the spiral of silence theory to political discourse among digital natives on Facebook. Using structural equation modeling on a survey of 967 Facebook users in Germany under the age of 30, we find that network heterogeneity increases the perception of the opinion climate as adverse, which, in turn leads to self-censorship. Moreover, political interest and active Facebook use foster users' willingness to speak out, while fear of isolation and communication apprehension lower it. We discuss the findings, embed them into discourses about impression management and context collapse, and show the usefulness of the spiral of silence theory in social media research.