Facebook and Instagram Use and Information Exposure in the 2020 Election

• In Event: Political Parties and American Democracy Mini-Conference III: How the Public Used Facebook and Instagram in the 2020 U.S. Election

Abstract

This paper uses both behavioral and survey data to provide detailed descriptive information about Facebook and Instagram engagement and information exposure during the 2020 elections. The paper explores how Facebook and Instagram usage, including how patterns of interaction and exposure to content varied across demographic groups. It then gives detailed information about the reach of various types of content on Facebook during the 2020 election (e.g. misinformation, uncivil content, and content from political actors). Next, the paper analyzes engagement on Facebook, including how different groups engaged with types of political content (e.g. sharing, commenting, and liking). Finally, over-time analyses illustrate how information exposure and behavior changed over the course of the 2020 election. Taken together, the analyses in this paper will provide the most comprehensive publicly available information to date on Facebook and Instagram usage. The text of the paper will summarize the findings, and will be accompanied by a substantial Supplemental Materials section with tables that we anticipate serving as data and references for many future analyses of social media and elections.

Authors

• Emily Thorson, Syracuse University

• Christopher Schwarz, New York University

• Taylor W Brown

• Arjun Wilkins, Meta