Social media treats Europe as a political establishment, not a lived reality
A study of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube across ten European countries found that news coverage of major issues—health, climate, economy—focuses almost entirely on institutions and governance, with almost no discussion of how these issues affect ordinary people. The finding suggests social media is failing to create a genuine public sphere where European concerns feel shared and citizen-driven.
Originaltitel: The role of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as sources of information about Europe
<p>In this chapter, we provide insights into the platformisation of media content by examining how news professionals communicate about European issues on major social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) across ten European countries and how the public engages in discussions about these issues on these platforms. The results provide essential information about the digital public sphere with respect to the most relevant European issues (health, the climate, and the economy, according to the Eurobarometer), published by both professional news producers and non-professional actors over three months (September–November 2021). However, the results only reveal a few references to the dimensions of Europeanisation in social media posts, as institutions, law, and governance are the most frequently mentioned dimensions in the analysis, demonstrating that Europe is primarily associated with the establishment. By contrast, no trends of Europeanisation from below were found. We discuss these findings with respect to the potential impact of platforms on public sphere failures.</p>