Something is breaking American politics, but it's not social media

A new study finds political polarization is increasing most among those who use the internet least

Overview

What if social media isn’t driving rising polarization in American politics? That’s the conclusion of a new paper by Levi Boxell, Matthew Gentzkow, and Jesse Shapiro. Their study, released recently through the National Bureau of Economic Research, tests the conventional wisdom about polarization on social media nine ways from Sunday and finds that it’s wrong, or at least badly incomplete.

Why is this important?

When it comes to delivery of weaponized narrative, Extensive National Bureau of Economic Research research says that while the polarization in America is certainly dramatic, it is not all about social media. It’s worse about people who are old, who use the Internet least. Partisan talk radio, cable news, and structural issues like increasing income inequality have much more power.