Stigma, Engagement and the Radical Right: An Experimental Study of Right-Wing Populist Content on Social Media

Abstract

The rise of right-wing populist parties across Europe has coincided with the increasing importance of social media as a platform for political communication. While right-wing populist parties achieve higher levels of engagement in online environments, they remain stigmatized in offline contexts. It remains unclear if visible engagement cues such as likes, shares and comments encourage expressing support for these actors. Drawing on theories of stigma combined with social media studies, this study examines whether engagement cues reduce the perceived social risks associated with sharing right-wing populist content and whether this contributes to its popularity. To answer this question, a randomized survey experiment was conducted in which respondents were shown social media posts from the Sweden Democrats. The experiment manipulated both engagement level and content format. Respondents then evaluated the credibility and popularity of the content, their willingness to share it, and the perceived social consequences of doing so. The study consists of regression analyses, interaction models, margins analyses, and structural equation models to examine both direct and indirect relationships between engagement cues and potential willingness to share. The study finds that higher engagement increases perceived credibility and popularity of the content, but that this does not translate into increased willingness to share. Instead, perceived social consequences remain a strong predictor in suppressing willingness to share, even among ideologically aligned respondents. Additional analyses indicate that engagement cues may nevertheless influence how these posts are perceived and internalized by increasing questioning of party support through credibility effects.