SELECTIVE EXPOSURE THEORY IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA: EXAMINING

SELECTIVITY ON TWITTER AMONG STUDENTS AT KUWAIT UNIVERSITY

by

Mohammad Alotaibi

B.A., Kuwait University, 2008

M.A., Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2015

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A Dissertation
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Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Doctor of Philosophy degree

School of Journalism in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts

in the Graduate School
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
May 2019




ProQuest Number: 13806685




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 DISSERTATION APPROVAL

SELECTIVE EXPOSURE THEORY IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA: EXAMINING

SELECTIVITY ON TWITTER AMONG STUDENTS AT KUWAIT UNIVERSITY

By

Mohammad Alotaibi

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

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for the Degree of
IE Doctor of Philosophy

In the field of Mass Communication & Media Arts

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Approved by:

Dr. Aaron Veenstra, Journalism, Committee Chair

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Dr. Scott McClurg, Journalism

Dr. Dong Han, Journalism

Dr. Uche Onyebadi, Texas Christian University

Dr. Wenjing Xie, Marist University

Graduate School
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
April 5, 2019
 AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF

MOHAMMAD ALOTAIBI, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mass Communication &
Media Arts, presented on October 5, 2018, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

TITLE: SELECTIVE EXPOSURE THEORY IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA: EXAMINING

SELECTIVITY ON TWITTER AMONG STUDENTS AT KUWAIT UNIVERSITY

MAJOR PROFESSOR: DR. AARON VEENSTRA

The aim of this dissertation is to examine selective exposure theory on Twitter among

student users at Kuwait University, and to revisit selective exposure theory’s assumptions in the

social media era. Two studies for this dissertation have been conducted among a total of 1391

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participants to examine the selective exposure theory among student Twitter users. In both
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studies, the researcher conducted an online experiment by developing simulated Twitter interface

pages and a simulated news app to study selective exposure theory among Kuwait University
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students. The first study aimed to examine whether the students at Kuwait University tend to be

exposed to politicians in Kuwait’s parliament who share the same political ideologies. The

second study aimed to examine to what extent student users selectively expose themselves to
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specific content on Twitter, or more specifically to their like-minded group, and what drives

them to do so. Moreover, the effect of Twitter’s social endorsement features on users' news

selection has been examined. Each study sample has been drawn from different classes of

students at Kuwait University. This study also looked at the role of incidental exposure as a

means of encouraging cross-ideological exposure. One noticeable trend in the two experiments

conducted for this dissertation is that partisan selective exposure was clear among students

participating in both studies, but at different levels. Also, data showed that there was no clear

role for the social endorsements on Twitter among students in this experiment to reduce

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selectivity. Moreover, a person's political leaning is more likely to surpass the impact of the

social endorsements when users are browsing Twitter on a daily basis. Results showed that

students in the second study read tweets from accounts they did not follow in real life and they

asserted that they experienced that on a high basis. Implications of these two online experiment

studies are discussed.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

After a long period of time spent researching that almost reached seven years, now is the

time I will add the final touches by writing this note of thanks. There are many people that have

earned my gratitude for their contribution to my knowledge in this journey. I will do my best to

acknowledge everyone who assisted me to complete this dissertation. More specifically, I would

like to thank five groups of people, after Allah (my GOD) without whom this dissertation would

not have been possible: my advisor, my dissertation committee members, my family members,

my country represented by Kuwait University and my friends.

I am indebted to my dissertation chair adviser, Dr. Aaron Veenstra, for his valuable time,

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guidance and support. Despite his new position as Acting Associate Dean in the College of Mass
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Communication and Media Arts, he was with me step by step during the writing of this

dissertation. Moreover, his effort with me was not just in this project but also goes behind that.
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He always encourages me to participate in some of the major conferences in our field, and, in

fact, by following his advice, part of this dissertation has been presented at the Midwest

Association for Public Opinion Research. I feel fortunate to have him as a chair adviser of my
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dissertation committee. I have no more words to express how grateful I am.

Beside my chair adviser, I would like to thank my committee members Dr. Uche

Oneybadi, Dr. Dong Han, Dr. Wenjing Xie, and Dr. Scott McClurg for all their help, guidance,

and endless support. This dissertation would not be accomplished without their valuable

suggestions and comments. Thank you!

Special thanks goes to Dr. Oneybadi and Dr. Xie who both moved recently to different

Universities, and they never stop believing in me and agreed to continue serving in my

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dissertation committee. Despite the difference in the time zone, they were very helpful by

rearranging their schedules to fit with the other committee members in the case of meetings.

I am also grateful to Mr. Abdulaziz Alotaibi, the owner and director of Q8-coder

company, for the time he spent with me in designing the online web system used for the two

studies of this dissertation. Translating the project's method to a real technical system was only

an idea until Mr. Alotaibi was able to help make it a reality. Thank you!

The most appreciation goes to my father, Dhaifallah Alotaibi, and my mother, Fouziya

Alotaibi. They always believe in me and my ability to be something in the future, and they

always encourage me to pursue higher degrees. They never ever forgot me in their daily prayers.

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Words are not enough to explain my feelings toward them.
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My special thanks also must go to my wife, Amjad Alossaimi, who should be credited for

this dissertation. I am extremely thankful for her supporting and preparing the suitable
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atmosphere during my work in my higher degrees. I also would like to thank my lovely daughter,

Wadhha and lovely sons, Khaled, Faisal, and Abdullah, who flourish my life, and I promise that

I will do my best to help you make your future better, Inshalla! (if Allah wills it).
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I am also thankful to my uncle, Khaled, who supported me to overcome some of the

obstacles that faced me throughout the beginning of my journey. Also, my thanks goes to my

sister, Amna, and brothers, Ahmad, Omar, Khaled, and Abdulaziz, for their love and support.

They always asked me about my study and encouraged me to keep moving until the end.

Special acknowledgments are due to my country Kuwait represented by Kuwait

University for granting me this scholarship and giving me this opportunity to enhance my

experience and education.

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 I would like to thank those who helped me in the stage of collecting data from students at

Kuwait University. Their help was noticeable and never forgettable: Dr. Adam Alotaibi, Dr.

Obaid Alotaibi, Dr. Fawaz Alajmi, Majed Alossaimi, Dr. Mosaa Alrashedi, Dr. Sultan Aldaihani,

Dr. Layla Alkhayaat, Dr. Saud Althajeb, Dr. Nawaf Alhjri, Dr. Nawaf Alotaibi, Dr. Ayied

Alardi, Dr. Mohammad Zayid, Dr. Fahad Almoneer, Dr. Abdualaziz Alsaqobi, Dr. Mohammad

Almotar, Dr. Ali Shoaib, Dr. Nasser Alotaibi, Dr. Mohammad Altamimi.

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 DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to

To Allah (my God) the all great without whom I could not accomplished this.

To my country: Kuwait

To Emir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah

To Kuwait University

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... vi

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... xi

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xii

CHAPTERS

CHAPTER 1 – Introduction.................................................................................................1

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Overview ..........................................................................................1
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CHAPTER 2 – Literature review .........................................................................................6

Theoretical Framework ...................................................................6

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Selective Exposure: A Debatable Topic ..............................7

Polarization and selective exposure .....................................9

Selective exposure: media affect or belief driven ..............10

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Selective: exposure or avoidance .......................................11

Selective Exposure Motivations ........................................13

Interpersonal networks and selective exposure .................14

Selective exposure and the Internet ...................................16

Selective Exposure in the Social Media Age .....................17

Social Media Limitations Against Selectivity ...................19

Social Media Technology and Selective Exposure ............20

Social Media and Incidental Exposure ..............................21

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 Social media in Kuwait ..................................................................23

Media system in Kuwait ................................................................24

Selective Exposure and Kuwait .....................................................33

Kuwait University ..........................................................................38

Kuwaiti Student Movement ...............................................39

National Union of Kuwaiti Student History ......................40

National Union of Kuwaiti Student at Kuwait ...................42

Student Organizations at Kuwait University .....................42

Student Organizations on Twitter ......................................44

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Research Questions and Hypotheses .............................................45
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Hypotheses .........................................................................46
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CHAPTER 3 – Methodology Section ................................................................................49

Online Experiment Technique ...................................................................49

First Study: Methodology ..........................................................................52

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Design Overview ...........................................................................52

Participants .....................................................................................52

Pilot Study......................................................................................53

Stimulus Material ...........................................................................54

Main page...........................................................................54

News story page .................................................................55

Procedure .......................................................................................55

Measures ........................................................................................56

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 Political Leaning ............................................................................56

News Stories Exposure ..................................................................56

Selective Exposure .........................................................................57

First study: Result ..........................................................................58

Sample Description ............................................................58

Experiment Results ............................................................61

Second Study: Methodology ......................................................................64

Design Overview ...........................................................................64

Participants .........................................................................64

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Stimulus Material ...............................................................65
IE Main Twitter Interfaces......................................................65

Tweets ................................................................................70
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Social Endorsements ..........................................................71

Procedure .......................................................................................72

Measures ........................................................................................73
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Political Leaning ................................................................73

Partisan Level.....................................................................74

Selective Exposure .............................................................74

Social Endorsements Effect ...............................................75

Partisan Selective Exposure and Period Spent at KU ........75

Incidental Exposure ...........................................................75

Second Study: Results....................................................................76

Sample Description ............................................................77

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 Experiment Results ............................................................79

CHAPTER 4 – General Discussion ...................................................................................90

CHAPTER 5 – Conclusion ..............................................................................................103

Implications ...........................................................................................105

Limitations .............................................................................................106

Future Studies ........................................................................................107

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................109

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A – Study 1 Design .....................................................................................124

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APPENDIX B – Study 1 Design in Arabic .....................................................................131
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APPENDIX C – Study 2 Design .....................................................................................139

APPENDIX D – Study 2 Design in Arabic .....................................................................149

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APPENDIX E – Verification of Translation ...................................................................159

APPENDIX F – Human Subjects Committee Approval .................................................160

VITA.... ........................................................................................................................................161
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 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

Table 1 - First study Demographic Information ............................................................................59

Table 2 - Exposure Decision ..........................................................................................................63

Table 3 – Second study Demographic Information ……………………………...……..………. 78

Table 4 - Participant Exposure on Twitter ....…………………………...……………….……....80

Table 5 - Regression Table............................…………………………...……………….……....89

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 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE

Figure 1 - Experiment's Main Page................................................................................................54

Figure 2 - Condition A ...................................................................................................................67

Figure 3 - Condition B: Sub-condition (Low)…………………………………………..………. 67

Figure 4 - Condition B: Sub-condition(High)…………………………...……………….……....68

Figure 5 - Condition C: Sub-condition (Low)………………………………………………….. .69

Figure 6 - Condition C: Sub-condition (High)…………………………………………………...69

Figure 7 - Student Assigned to Condition C ..................................................................................70

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Figure 8 - Second Study General Model…....................................................................................82
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Figure 9 - Model 1 .........................................................................................................................83

Figure 10 - Exposure decision and the Leaning Level……………………………………..........85

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Figure 11- Model 2……………………………………………………………………………. ...86

Figure 12 - Exposure decision and the Account’s Identity ............................................................87

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Overview

The field of mass communication has been dominated by the ideology of media effects,

in which the audience is portrayed as a passive participant in the communication process. This

ideology drove most of the research in the communication field for a long time. The hypodermic

needle theory, magic bullet theory, and two-step flow theory are examples of what scholars used

to define the communication process. In fact, how or why individuals select media messages was

not essential or maybe did not grab the attention of scholars, especially in the era of traditional

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media (i.e. TV, newspaper, etc.), where this was the dominant paradigm.
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The uses and gratification theory formulated by Katz and his colleagues in early 1970s

was one of the first models that grabbed attention from the media affect paradigm to the
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audience’s active role in the communication process. Katz (1959) asserted that this model started

to change the focus from “what do media do to people” to what people do with the media” (p.2).

Therefore, this theory was considered the model that refuted the absolute media effect.
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Selective exposure theory is one of the theories that doesn’t just explain media selection,

but goes beyond that to illustrate why specific messages are selected and others ignored or

avoided. Selective exposure exists when an individual is more likely to expose himself/herself to

a supportive opinion than a contradictory one (Garrett, 2009). According to Knobloch-

Westerwick (2015), selective exposure is “any systematic bias in selected messages that diverge

from the composition of accessible messages” (p. 3).

Scholars studied this theory, especially in the age of traditional media, and found proof

that the selectivity witnessed among individuals is due to pre-existing opinion. (Klapper, 1960;

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Knobloch-Westerwick& Meng, 2006; Stroud, 2008). However, in the age of technology and the

Internet, there were skeptics as to the future of the selective exposure theory. Some voiced the

idea that Internet would not provide a place for selectivity among the great quantity of news

items arising from so many different political arenas. However, there is no evidence that new

technology might threaten the existence of selective exposure (Stroud, 2008).

Instead, there were those who believed that, even in the age of technology and the wide

use of the Internet, people tend to be more and more selective in terms of exposure. Sunstein

(2001) asserts that that the more diverse the views or information become, the more individuals

desire to be exposed to information similar to their own beliefs. Studying the U.S. blogosphere

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during the 2004 presidential election, Adamic and Glance (2005) noticed that there were a few
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cross links in each blog, while most of the links in each blog held the same ideology.

Social media in general came with the promise of sharing ideas and opinions no matter
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their origin or background of the person posting. Users of social media apps might be less

selective of the information to which they are exposed because of the technology and the

facilities that these apps provide which may connect user with others who may don’t know.
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Therefore, the idea of examining the selective exposure theory among social media users caught

the attention of scholars. Messing and Westwood (2014) found that social media websites

demonstrate a great ability to reduce selective exposure through increased exposure to different

news from different sources.

Twitter is a popular social media platform used across the globe. As of June 2016, there

were approximately 313 million active Twitter accounts around the world, 79% of which were

generated from countries other than the U.S. (Twitter, 2016).

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 Like other social media platforms, Twitter was originally designed for communication

among people, no matter the distance between them or difference in languages. However, unlike

most social media platforms, Twitter allows only a limited message length of 280 characters.

This limitation encourages users to include hyperlinks to other websites to support the purpose of

the original message.

In studying these platforms, it is essential to examine the theory of selective exposure

because of the value in their large number of users and the diversity of topics. Twitter is a

platform that is based on a connection between users who are exposed to each other’s tweets and

interact with one another by “liking” a tweet, retweeting, or reply to a tweet. Therefore, studying

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the nature of these interactions offers value in revisiting the theory of selective exposure in the
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context of the social media age.

In Kuwait, Twitter is known as a platform that mostly contains political interaction.

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Martin (2013) noted that most of Twitter’s interactions in Kuwait are political discussions.

Moreover, Kuwait has a very small population of about 1.5 million (Snoj, 2015). The majority of

Kuwaitis are Twitter users (El-Ahmad, 2012), and approximately 70% of them are young
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(Kuwait Government Online, 2013). Therefore, studying selective exposure theory in the

Kuwaiti Twittersphere is worthwhile to learn how Twitter users are exposed to others on Twitter

and what affects their exposure while using Twitter in Kuwait.

In order to study the Kuwaiti Twittersphere and the extent to which Twitter users are

selective in their exposure, identifying users’ political leanings is essential. But Kuwait is a

country without political parties; the Kuwaiti political system does not acknowledge political

parties. Therefore, examining the selective exposure theory on Twitter in Kuwait is complicated.

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Student organizations within Kuwait University might be the appropriate place to study this

theory for a variety of reasons.

The student organizations in Kuwait University compete every year to lead the National

Union of Kuwait Student. These organizations have many supporters among the student body

who share the same principles. Each student organization has a specific political leaning (Kuwait

Times, 2009). Most likely they represent some other movements outside of the University

borders which make this study’s output essentials for predicting the situation in Kuwait in a

general sense.

Two experiments have been conducted to examine the selective exposure among student

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Twitter users at Kuwait University. The aim of the first study is to examine whether students
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participate in this experiment tend to be exposed to politicians who share their same political

ideology. The second study aims to examine to what extent students participate in this
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experiment are selectively exposing to like-minded groups on Twitter and, if they are, what

drives them to do so? The researcher examined the effect of “likes,” “comments,” and “retweets”

that Twitter has on the news selection of student users. The first study examined the selective
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phenomenon in a news app format and the second study examined the selectivity behavior on

Twitter.

Studying the theory of selective exposure in a new area such as Kuwait is considered a

new contribution to communication research through examination of this theory among Twitter

users at Kuwait University. Moreover, no studies have examined the selective exposure aspect

for traditional news sources in Kuwait, which make this study the first in both the traditional and

new media among young Kuwaitis at Kuwait University. Furthermore, choosing the student

organizations at Kuwait University as the sample for this dissertation may also contribute to the

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research because there no studies have focused on the political leanings of these organizations.

This makes the findings of this dissertation a source for a future study interesting in this area of

research.

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 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Theoretical Framework

Selective exposure is likely to be considered one of the important theories that precede a

paradigm shift in the absolute power of media to be limited in mass communication field.

According to this theory, the audience is an important component that can affect the effects

equation. According to Bauer (1963), as audience members “[w]e don't just receive messages—

we choose among them” (p. 2). At the same line, this theory explains how the audience became

more active in terms of the content to which they tended to be exposed.

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In fact, the idea of selective exposure is not new, but existed as early the 1940s.
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Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet were the first to touch on this concept in the context of mass

communication (Knobloch-Westerwick, 2015). They noted that “[e]xposure is always selective”

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(Lazarsfeld, Berelson, & Gaudet, 1948 p. 164). In his book A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance,

Festinger touches on the concept of selective exposure and provides an explanation of it.
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(Festinger, 1957)

Selective exposure theory, basically, asserts that an individual tends to expose him or

herself to a supportive point of view rather than a contradictory one (Garrett, 2009). Knobloch-

Westerwick (2015) defines it as “any systematic bias in selected messages that diverge from the

composition of accessible messages” (p. 3). According to Stroud (2011), selective exposure can

be better explained by Festinger’s theory: cognitive dissonance. This theory hypothesizes that

when dissonance is presented, individuals will be more likely to avoid situations or information

that cause the inconsistency (Festinger, 1957). This theory assumes that when an individual

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holds two conflicting pieces of information about a specific issue, he or she will start to reduce

the amount of dissonance in order to return to the area of consonance.

Festinger (1957) proposes that selective exposure is considered one method for reducing

the dissonance. There are three hypotheses that explain the relationship between the amount of

dissonance and the selective exposure process. He asserts that the level of dissonance might be

low or nonexistant, moderate, or very high. Therefore, an individual’s motivation for selective

exposure is based on these three levels of dissonance.

If the level of dissonance is low or non-existent, there will not be any motivation for

selective exposure. However, when it exists at a moderate level, the individual will be more

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motivated to be more selective in order to reduce the dissonance and avoid any information that
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might increase it. The last level is when the amount of dissonance become very high. In cases

where the level is high, Festinger proposes that selective exposure will not be effective in
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reducing the level of dissonance. This could then lead the person to look for counter viewpoints,

which he or she might accept and return to a place of non-dissonance.

According to Knobloch-Westerwick (2015), three main elements should exist in order to

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measure selective exposure: recipients’ availability, availability of choice, and awareness of

choice. In fact, the author mentions that individuals must be available, which means having

access to any media outlet. Moreover, there must be a diversity of choices and individuals should

be aware of these choices to which they are selectively exposed.

Selective Exposure: A Debatable Topic

Selective exposure is one of the debatable theories in the field of mass communication.

For a long time it was debated whether or not this phenomenon existed or not among a wide

body of scholars. In their book, The People’s Choice: How the Voter Makes Up His mind in a

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 Presidential Campaign, Lazarsfeld et al. assert that “[P]eople select their exposure along the line

of their political predispositions […] a positive relationship exists between people’s opinions and

what they choose to listen to or read” (1948, p. 164).

Klapper supports the selective exposure phenomena, saying, “The tendency of people to

expose themselves to mass communications in accord with their existing opinions and interests

and to avoid unsympathetic material, has been widely demonstrated” (1960, p. 19-20).

Moreover, in his study Interest in Supporting and Discrepant Information, Mills (1968) found

evidence supporting the selective exposure theory.

On the other hand, some scholars dispute the phenomenon of selective exposure.

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Freedman and Sears (1965) found inconsistency in the evidence that might support this theory.
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They mention that in some circumstances people not only tend to be exposed to information that

supports a pre-existent opinion, but sometimes they tend to be exposed to counter viewpoints.
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McGuire (1968) shares the same concerns regarding the inconsistency in evidence of the

selective exposure theory.

Since early time until recently, some scholar in mass communication was doubly have
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evidence of the Selective exposure theory. Some scholars, such as Zaller (1992) and; Jonas et al.

(2005), question the outcomes of studies that support this theory. Kinder (2003) asserts clearly

that the evidence supporting this theory is weak. He continues, saying, “[W]e now know that

people do not, for the most part, seek out mass communications that reinforce their political

predispositions’’ (p. 369).

Stroud (2008) asserts that the reasons behind the weak evidence supporting the selective

exposure theory lie more in the topics with which researchers choose to examine this

phenomenon. Reviewing the literature of this theory illustrates how diverse it is terms of the

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