INSTAGRAM AS A POLITICAL SPHERE: EXAMINING POLARIZATION AMONG PAKISTANI USERS

Abstract

This study explores political polarization among Pakistani Instagram users as influenced by exposure to political content, addressing a notable gap in the existing literature, which has largely prioritized platforms such as Facebook and Twitter while overlooking the unique visual and algorithmic communication context of Instagram. As Instagram continues to grow rapidly among Pakistani youth, it has become increasingly important to examine its role in shaping political attitudes. The study employed a cross-sectional survey of 150 Pakistani Instagram users. Pearson correlation and simple linear regression were used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that exposure to political content on Instagram has a strong and statistically significant positive association with political polarization. Moreover, such exposure is a significant predictor of both perceived societal polarization and personal affective hostility toward opposing political groups. By providing platform-specific empirical evidence on the polarizing effects of Instagram, this study highlights the importance of digital media literacy programs and the need for greater regulatory attention to algorithmic content curation on visual social media platforms. The results contribute to the existing body of Pakistani literature and underscore the necessity of investing in digital media literacy initiatives while placing increased regulatory emphasis on how such platforms curate content.