Political engagement and online political hostility among American X/Twitter users

Hostility and toxicity permeate political debates on social media, but less is known about which users engage in hostile political expression online. While many early theories of political behavior highlighted the positive democratic role of political engagement, recent research suggests that such engagement may also be associated with more polarized and antagonistic behavior. Combining two years of survey and behavioral data from X/Twitter, we examine associations between online political hostility and indicators of political engagement and its antecedents among American users. Online political hostility is positively associated with these indicators, with the strongest associations for political interest, political knowledge, and online participation. These associations are more pronounced for some indicators, especially online and offline participation, among users with more polarized affect directed towards US political leaders. Finally, the results show that engaged but hostile social media users do not simply cater to fringe audiences; they post more frequently and have more friends and followers. The greater engagement of hostile social media users may thus provide them with a higher reacher than other users.