Tolerated, Muted, Removed: A Study of Preexisting Relationships Across Political Lines on Social Media Using SIDE, the Investment Model, and the Model of Accommodation

This study explores reactions to and interactions online with political content posted by an interpersonal connection on social media. The concepts within this study are drawn from interpersonal, political, social media, and digital affordances literature. The theoretical foundation is built on the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE), the investment model of relationship maintaining behavior, and the model of accommodation. Two research questions were asked regarding the impact of preexisting relationships and political identity on participant reactions to and interactions with political content posted on social media by an interpersonal connection. A qualitative method was used to answer the above questions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using a thematic analysis and guided by sensitizing topics. Results show that participants did not often post or interact on social media and often chose to ignore or tolerate political content shared by an interpersonal connection. However, participants did note the potential impact of relational closeness and political identity on post-perception. These results indicate a possible shift in posting behavior despite the prevalence of online discourse. Overall, this study demonstrates the need for further research into user behavior on social media and how this impact their interactions with online connections and politics.