Examining (Political) Content Consumption on Facebook Through Data Donation

TL;DR

This study introduces a privacy-preserving data donation method to analyze political content consumption on Facebook across demographics, revealing low engagement levels and significant demographic disparities.

Contribution

It presents a novel data donation framework and a comprehensive dataset for studying social media usage and political engagement.

Findings

Political content consumption averages 17%.

Significant demographic variations in engagement.

Temporal trends show changing interaction patterns.

Abstract

This paper investigates the usage patterns of Facebook among different demographics in the United States, focusing on the consumption of political information and its variability across age, gender, and ethnicity. Employing a novel data donation model, we developed a tool that allows users to voluntarily share their interactions with public Facebook groups and pages, which we subsequently enrich using CrowdTangle. This approach enabled the collection and analysis of a dataset comprising over 1,200 American users. Our findings indicate that political content consumption on Facebook is relatively low, averaging around 17%, and exhibits significant demographic variations. Additionally, we provide insights into the temporal trends of these interactions. The main contributions of this research include a methodological framework for studying social media usage in a privacy-preserving manner, a comprehensive dataset reflective of current engagement patterns, and descriptive insights that highlight demographic disparities and trends over time. This study enhances our understanding of social media's role in information dissemination and its implications for political engagement, offering a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers in a landscape where direct data access is diminishing.