社群媒體的沉默螺旋現象－以臉書為例

Abstract

本研究以Noelle-Neumann在1973年提出的「沉默螺旋理論」為基礎，以「同性婚姻合法化」為研究議題，以臉書為研究場域，探討社群媒體上的沉默螺旋現象。本研究以網路問卷調查法，共蒐集了380份問卷，了解臉書使用者在臉書上，面對爭議性議題的表達意願。 研究發現，個人對於意見氣候評估的不一致程度無法有效預測個人的害怕孤立心理。如同過去研究所推測，之所以在電腦中介互動情境中，意見不一致程度不會影響個人的害怕孤立程度，是因為許多社會規範或懲罰是透過非語言線索傳遞，仰賴其他人實體的存在，例如：尷尬的眼神接觸、手勢等，在電腦中介互動的情境下，已經排除了這些線索，身體的孤立已經存在，所以人們不再因為意見氣的不一致而加深害怕孤立的心理因素。本研究也發現，在網路論壇上，害怕孤立程度最高的並不是弱勢意見的那群人，而是那些對議題總是表示中立無意見的人，可能是因為那些容易受孤立威脅的人，因為擔心受到任何一方孤立，所以不願意表達自己的意見，總是選擇中立或沒意見。在意見氣候與發表意願上的關係，本研究符合「不滿足螺旋（a spiral of discontent）」現象，弱勢意見持有者在網路缺乏社會情境線索與匿名的前提下，更勇於表達；相較之下，在缺乏臨場感的狀況下，強勢意見的表達動機變小，使他們不願意發表。而害怕孤立因素與發表意願的關聯上，本研究發現害怕孤立程度越高，表達意願越低，顯示害怕孤立心理是能夠預測表達意願的因素之一。 和過去以電腦中介互動情境的研究有相同的結果，再次證實在電腦中介互動情境下，性別與教育程度不會影響在社群媒體的發表意願，但是本研究發現年齡越高者，在臉書上的發表意願越低。在臉書使用習慣與發表意願的關係中，本研究發現，使用年齡、使用小時、朋友數量、利用臉書閱讀新聞的頻率都無法有效預測發表意願。但是利用臉書關心公共議題的頻率越高，在臉書的表達意願越高；利用臉書討論公共議題的頻率越高，表達意願也越高，值得注意的是，臉書的隱私設定也是影響表達意願的因素之一，習慣在每次表達意願時調整隱私設定的人，相較於每次都將隱私設定設為「朋友包括朋友的朋友」的人，有更高的表達意願。與過去研究一致，本研究將研究場域移至社群媒體也有同樣的發現：議題涉入程度越高，表達意願越高。 綜合上述，臉書使用者對於「同性婚姻合法化」此議題並無法完全證實諾氏沉默螺旋的假設，但從中發現，部分研究結果與過去的研究有許多相互呼應之處，顯示若將沉默螺旋理論應用於社群媒體，會有不同的結果。

Based on the “Spiral of Silence” theory propounded by Noelle-Neumann in 1973, this study investigated the spiral of silence effect in communication of opinions about “legalization of same-sex marriage” on Facebook. Using an online questionnaire, this study collected 380 responses to explore Facebook users’ willingness to express opinions on controversial issues. Results showed that the discrepancy in perception of the opinion climate cannot effectively predict an individual’s fear of isolation. As argued by previous research, one’s fear of isolation does not vary by the level of opinion discrepancy in a computer-mediated interaction context. This is because many social norms or sanctions are communicated through nonverbal cues. In a computer-mediated interaction context, these cues are excluded, and people are physically isolated. Therefore, people do not fear being isolated due to a discrepant perception of the opinion climate. In online forums, people with the strongest fear of isolation are usually not those who perceive their opinions to be in the minority but those who always take a neutral stance on all issues. These people are unwilling to express their opinions because they fear that they may be isolated by any party supporting a different opinion. As to the association between opinion climate and willingness to express, this study found a “spiral of discontent”. The analysis of the relationship between factors of fear of isolation and willingness to express showed that higher fear of isolation would lead to lower willingness to express, indicating fear of isolation is one of the predictors of willingness to express. As suggested by previous research of the computer-mediated interaction context, willingness to express opinions in social media does not differ by gender nor by education. However, this study found lower willingness to express among older Facebook users. Besides, willingness to express cannot be effectively predicted by age of using, number of hours of using, number of children or frequency of using Facebook as a news reader. However, people who used Facebook to learn and discuss public issues more frequency tended to have higher willingness to express opinions on Facebook. The privacy setting is also a factor affecting willingness to express. People who would adjust the privacy setting before posting any opinion showed higher willingness to express compared to those who always set the privacy status as “Friends including friends’ friends”. The finding of previous research from other contexts that higher issue involvement would lead to higher willingness to express was also supported in this study.