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Do anticipated Facebook discussions diminish the importance of argument quality? An experimental investigation of attitude formation in social media

ABSTRACT Given the rising importance of Facebook as a news source, this study investigated how the social media environment and expectations of future interactions alter processes of attitude formation. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM), it was expected that impression-motivated users of social networking sites (SNS) strive for widely acceptable attitudes when no majority opinion is visible and pay less attention to the quality of information. An experiment (N= 348) varied the media context in which an article was displayed (Facebook vs. news site vs. newspaper), argument quality, and the expectation of future discussions. Results showed higher impression motivation and a reduced influence of argument quality when participants expected to write a Facebook post on the topic. However, merely being connected to Facebook did not affect the direction of their information processing. Those who regard themselves as SNS opinion leaders were more easily persuaded by weak arguments in news articles. Concerning the potential risks for an informed citizenry, these findings highlight situations and groups in which SNS usage is connected to a less thoughtful information processing. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the applicability of the multiple-motive approach of the HSM to capture the specifics of attitude formation in different media contexts.