Due to the large amount of information in various media and the confusing source situation on the Internet, the question of how users select content for closer reception from the multitude of possibilities is of crucial importance. Previous studies show a tendency to select content that agrees with opinions and confirms one's own world view (selective exposure), but also a strong consideration of ratings from other users or "shared" content, for example from Facebook friends. This raises the question of the extent to which an orientation towards social recommendations can lead to an overcoming of opinion-based information selection or whether the homogeneity of friend circles and corresponding algorithms tend to narrow the spectrum of perceived opinions.

Zentrale Publikationen:

Klebba, L.-J., & Winter, S.(in press). Crisis alert: (Dis)information selection and sharing in the COVID-19 pandemic. Communications - The European Journal of Communication Research. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2022-0020

Wojcieszak, M., Winter, S., & Yu, X. (2020). Social norms and selectivity: Effects of norms of
open-mindedness on content selection and affective polarization. Mass Communication
and Society, 23, 455-483.. doi:10.1080/15205436.2020.1714663 [Impact Factor: 2.189]

Sülflow, M., Schäfer, S., & Winter, S. (2019). Selective attention in the news feed: An eye-tracking study on the perception and selection of political news posts on Facebook. New Media & Society, 2, 168-190. doi:10.1177/1461444818791520

Winter, S., Metzger, M. J., & Flanagin, A. J. (2016). Selective use of news cues: A multiple-motive perspective on information selection in social media environments. Journal of Communication, 66, 669-693. doi:10.1111/jcom.12241