Social media news use and political expression among young adults: evidence from China

Political expression is an important component of democratic politics, and social media has become the main way for young adults to access political information. Nevertheless, it still remains unknown that how social media news use (SMNU) affects political expression among young adults. This study relies on data from “2018 Internet User Social Attitude Survey” to examine the effect of the SMNU on political expression among Chinese young adults and explore its inner mechanism from a socio-psychological perspective. Results indicate that after controlling for demographic variables and internal political efficacy, the SMNU has not only direct effects on online and offline political expression positively, but also indirect effects on them mediated via social media trust. Moreover, political interest positively moderates the mediation effect of the SMNU on online political expression, further enlarging the gap between those with higher political interest and those with lower political interest in online political expression. It has no significant impact, however, on the mediation effect of the SMNU on offline political expression. These findings attempt to advance our understanding of the multiple mechanisms affecting political expression from socio-psychological attitudes.