Abstract Online environments are often described as drawing users into a “rabbit hole.” While the term is frequently invoked in both academic and popular discourse, there is little consensus on what precisely constitutes an online rabbit hole. This lack of consensus has resulted in research on this phenomenon being conceptually fragmented and inconsistent. The current scoping review addresses this gap by systematically examining how online rabbit holes have been conceptualized and operationalized. Through a critical synthesis of 30 studies, we derive three recurring dimensions in the different conceptualizations of the online rabbit hole: content escalation, content homogenization, and user immersion. Building on these three key dimensions, we propose a comprehensive three-dimensional conceptual framework for understanding online rabbit holes and offer recommendations for accurately measuring and detecting them.
Abstract A thought experiment is proposed to discuss the difference between theories of persuasion that can be used to persuade anyone of anything vs. theories that can only be used to make the truth more persuasive. This letter argues that much persuasion research aims at developing methods of persuading anyone of anything and questions whether this is a goal that social scientific researchers should want to pursue.
Abstract Walkthrough has found modern application as a methodology in user experience scholarship and practice to allow researchers to qualitatively “walk,” step-by-step, through a digital interface and examine functions, communication, implications, and usability. Simultaneously, existing users of digital platforms have begun creating media of themselves walking through properties for the benefit of their digital communities, leading to the rise of user-generated walkthroughs. These user-generated walkthroughs share user experience, provide situated expertise, and circulate knowledge within digital communities. Despite this growth, walkthrough methodology has largely developed within UX and human–computer interaction contexts and lacks deeper integration with social scientific and ethnographic priorities. User-generated walkthroughs in communication research present a unique opportunity to bridge these traditions by bringing the rigor and epistemological commitments of digital ethnography into conversation with walkthrough practice. In doing so, participant-generated walkthroughs center participant knowledge, positioning users as active interpreters who signal what is meaningful in digital environments. This manuscript proposes theoretical and methodological directions for future participant-generated walkthrough research, arguing that digital ethnographic considerations provide the necessary structure for more rigorous and socially grounded applications of the Walkthrough method, while also opening new possibilities for qualitative and computational inquiry in digital spaces.
Abstract While recent quantitative research finds little evidence that citizens learn about politics from social media, it is unclear whether studies adequately capture platform complexity and often fragmented understandings of political knowledge. Following PRISMA guidelines, we systematically reviewed 78 papers that assess the quantitative association between social media use and political knowledge. Our critical assessment of how such studies conceptualize and operationalize social media use and political knowledge revealed a dual mismatch. First, social media use is often measured via general frequency, overlooking specific content (beyond “news”), actors (e.g., influencers), platforms (beyond Facebook/Twitter), and exposure modes (e.g., incidental). Second, knowledge measures remain conservative, focusing on institutional facts while neglecting issue-specific and noninstitutional topics. We propose a novel 3-dimensional framework and methodological pathways to address key limitations in the dominant normative tradition of studying the relationship between social media and political learning.
Abstract Algorithmically curated information environments are beginning to challenge both long-standing notions of what media effects look like and our ability to study them directly. Algorithmic curation and microtargeting of content based on users’ behavioral and digital trace data pose conceptual as well as methodological challenges to our understanding of communication effects. These challenges increasingly introduce significant distortions to our field’s current ability to transparently and systematically iterate between theory and empirical testing. In this article, we provide a blueprint for how a systematic, empirical rethinking, and testing of communication effects theory can look like in an era of what we call preference-based information ecologies (PBIEs). Specifically, we discuss 9 current challenges to theorizing that are conceptual and methodological in nature and discuss necessary field developments to address and overcome these challenges. We identify 4 major agenda items that our field must tackle in order to position itself for a future in which all communication processes occur in some variant of PBIEs.
