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Abstract We measure the causal impact of comment sections on social media posts promoting racial justice. Conducted in two phases, it involves an online field experiment with over millions of Facebook users. We first collect and analyze comments to understand how political ideology influences engagement with posts. We then evaluates how exposure to different comment narratives affects subsequent engagement (comments, views), intentions (clicks), and off-platform behaviors (donations, petitions). We measure the causal impact of comment sections on social media posts promoting racial justice. Conducted in two phases, it involves an online field experiment with over millions of Facebook users. We first collect and analyze comments to understand how political ideology influences engagement with posts. We then evaluates how exposure to different comment narratives affects subsequent engagement (comments, views), intentions (clicks), and off-platform behaviors (mailing list sign-up, donations).
Trial Start Date July 01, 2024 January 15, 2025
Last Published March 25, 2025 04:49 PM March 25, 2025 09:35 PM
Intervention Start Date July 01, 2024 March 25, 2025
Primary Outcomes (End Points) engagement (comments, views), intentions (clicks), and off-platform behaviors (donations, petitions) engagement (comments, views), intentions (clicks), and off-platform behaviors (mailing list sign-up, donations)
Planned Number of Clusters 200 zip codes sets X 4 conditions per zip code = 800 clusters Around 150 clusters
Planned Number of Observations 3 million facebook users 1.5-2 million Facebook users
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms 750,000 control (no comments), 750,000 treatment 1 (all comments), 750,000 treatment 2 (progressive comments), 750,000 treatment 3 (conservative comments) Around 450,000 control (no comments), 450,000 treatment 1 (mixed comments), 450,000 treatment 2 (progressive comments), 450,000 treatment 3 (conservative comments)
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