Description: Drawing on an original study of internet users across nine Western democracies, Outside the Bubble offers an unprecedented look at the effects of social media on democratic participation. The book reveals that, for most users, social media do not constitute echo chambers where people only hear what they want to hear. Instead, these platforms facilitate accidental encounters with news and exposure to electoral mobilization. While social media may contribute to many societal problems, they can help address at least two important democratic ills: citizens' apathy towards politics, and inequalities between those who choose to exercise their voice and those who remain silent.
Review Quotes: "Combined with cataloging the fallacies that undergird most research about social media and political participation, this book illustrates the many ways people use social media and the still--manifesting implications of those uses." -- C. Barker, Bradley University, CHOICE
"Vaccari and Valeriani move beyond the mass media era variables that persist in the literature on political participation, employing concepts and measures appropriate to the digital media era. In this insightful book, they also dispense with one of the least helpful digital era ideas, the 'echo chamber.' They offer comprehensive data about behavior informed by a theoretically rich understanding of institutions, party systems, and mass media. This is a fantastic addition to our understanding of contemporary political behavior." -- Bruce Bimber, University of California, Santa Barbara"The definitive book on social media and political participation. In their comprehensive and accessible book, Vaccari and Valeriani provide needed context, nuance, and richness to the questions of who is politically mobilized by social media, how are they mobilized, and under what circumstances. A welcome addition to any bookshelf." -- Leticia Bode, Georgetown University"Using nine-country survey data, Vaccari and Valeriani tackle the big questions about social media and democracy. Are there echo chambers among social media users? What are the impacts of accidental or incidental exposure on patterns of citizen's participation? What do these findings mean for election campaigns? This book is a must read for those interested in evidence-based discussions about the role of social media in democracy." -- Shelley Boulianne, MacEwan University"This book offers a rich and remarkable analysis of how social media intersect with political participation. By highlighting diverging dynamics across nine Western democracies, the authors force us to reconsider common but simplistic assumptions: that social media create echo chambers and filter bubbles, poison political debate and democratic engagement, and enable the rise of populist and illiberal demagogues. Instead, reality is considerably more complex, and all the more interesting for it--much like this book." -- Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology"Do the affordances of social media facilitate political participation and if so, for what types of citizens and in what contexts? Drawing on original surveys from nine diverse Western democracies, Vaccari and Valeriani provide theory driven and empirically supported answers to these questions. Their findings are important, compelling, and reason for hope." -- Michael X. Delli Carpini, University of Pennsylvania