{"id":7410,"date":"2026-01-23T18:21:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/?post_type=hbi-events&#038;p=7410"},"modified":"2026-01-29T17:07:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:07:53","slug":"political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments","status":"publish","type":"hbi-events","link":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/employee\/lisa-merten\/\">Dr. Lisa Merten<\/a> will give a presentation on the relationship between the diversity of online information repertoires and political polarization during her guest stay at the <a href=\"https:\/\/research.qut.edu.au\/dmrc\/\">Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>She will present the research project \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/tracking-political-polarization\/\">Political Polarization and Individualized Online Information Environments: A Longitudinal Tracking Study (POLTRACK)<\/a>,\u201d introduce the research design, initial findings, and data infrastructure of the project, and outline opportunities for further international collaboration.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/research.qut.edu.au\/dmrc\/2026\/01\/14\/dmrc-visitor-seminar-lisa-merten\/\">Event announcement<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>About the Event<\/h2>\n<h3><span lang=\"en\">A Reinforcing Spiral? Online News Exposure and Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">Polarization is often attributed to digital media consumption, yet evidence on how concrete news exposure shapes polarized attitudes over time remains limited due to methodological challenges in measuring specific news exposure. This talk introduces the collaborative research project POLTRACK \u2013 Political Polarization and Individualized Online Information Environments (2022\u20132027).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">The project is based on an 18-month web-tracking study of more than 2,500 German citizens, complemented by four survey waves on political attitudes and media use. By linking real-world online news exposure to survey-based measures of polarization, POLTRACK enables longitudinal analyses of how individualized information environments relate to changes in political attitudes toward political issues and actors over time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">Lisa Merten presents preliminary results on the relationship between online news consumption and polarization in the climate discourse, distinguishing between ideological polarization around climate mitigation policies and affective polarization toward politicians and climate-related social movements such as Fridays for Future and Last Generation. Adopting a reinforcing spirals perspective (Slater, 2007), the analysis examines how issue- and actor-related news exposure contributes to polarization dynamics and discusses implications for current debates on media diversity and democratic cohesion. The talk also introduces the POLTRACK data infrastructure and outlines opportunities for international collaboration.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":2622,"template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-7410","hbi-events","type-hbi-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Lisa Merten will give a presentation on the relationship between the diversity of online information repertoires and political polarization during her guest stay at the Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology. She will present the research project \u201cPolitical Polarization and Individualized Online Information Environments: A Longitudinal Tracking Study (POLTRACK),\u201d introduce the research [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-29T16:07:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/\",\"name\":\"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-23T17:21:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-29T16:07:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg\",\"width\":1380,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Empty rows of chairs in a large event hall\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-events\\\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Homepage\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"width\":462,\"height\":123,\"caption\":\"Leibniz HBI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments","og_description":"Dr. Lisa Merten will give a presentation on the relationship between the diversity of online information repertoires and political polarization during her guest stay at the Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology. She will present the research project \u201cPolitical Polarization and Individualized Online Information Environments: A Longitudinal Tracking Study (POLTRACK),\u201d introduce the research [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/","og_site_name":"Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","article_modified_time":"2026-01-29T16:07:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1380,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/","name":"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-23T17:21:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-29T16:07:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Veranstaltungen.jpg","width":1380,"height":400,"caption":"Empty rows of chairs in a large event hall"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-events\/political-polarization-in-digital-information-environments\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Homepage","item":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Political Polarization in Digital Information Environments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","name":"Leibniz HBI","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization","name":"Leibniz HBI","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","width":462,"height":123,"caption":"Leibniz HBI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-events\/7410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hbi-events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}