This study advances the theoretical understanding of the effects of incidental news exposure on political knowledge by probing the mechanisms through which exposure transfers to learning. Two studies in the U.S. across both non-election and election settings test the centrality of political discussion on social media with strong and weak ties in explaining this relationship. Findings across both studies show no significant direct associations between incidental news exposure and political knowledge. However, mediation analyses suggest that incidental news exposure can influence political knowledge when mediated by interpersonal political conversations on social media: discussions with strong ties contribute to political knowledge, but discussions with weak ties are detrimental. Furthermore, the indirect effects via strong and weak ties are significantly conditioned by one’s cognitive ability. The findings highlight the conditions under which incidental news exposure helps yet also hinders individuals’ political knowledge.

中文翻译：

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从偶然新闻接触到政治知识的途径：研究社交媒体上政治讨论的悖论效应，两者之间有强有弱的关系


本研究通过探索接触转移到学习的机制，推进了对偶然新闻曝光对政治知识影响的理论理解。美国的两项研究在非选举和选举环境中测试了社交媒体上政治讨论的中心地位，在解释这种关系方面有强有弱。两项研究的结果表明，偶然的新闻曝光与政治知识之间没有显著的直接关联。然而，调解分析表明，当通过社交媒体上的人际政治对话进行中介时，偶然的新闻曝光会影响政治知识：具有强联系的讨论有助于获得政治知识，但具有弱联系的讨论是有害的。此外，通过强联系和弱联系的间接影响在很大程度上取决于一个人的认知能力。研究结果强调了偶然的新闻曝光有助于但也阻碍个人政治知识的条件。