My research interests are in the intersection of new media and public opinion with a focus on a twofold methodological approach: social network analysis (SNA), and experiments. The main goal of my current research is to assess the consequences of the Spanish online news media network on public opinion. Thanks to SNA I am mapping the online Spanish political information providers network to assess to what extend its structure has led to the formation of isolated political information communities i.e. echo chambers (Sunstein, 2009), or whether there are still high levels of overlapping audiences that guarantee the necessary public sphere for a democratic society.

This constitutes the first part of my research thesis and it will be supplemented with individual browsing tracking behaviour data from a panel (Gentzkow & Shapiro, 2011; Ksiazek, 2011; Webster & Ksiazek, 2012). A novel data gathering process which aims to shed light on modes of exposure and it will provide a more robust assessment of whether the web is expanding or reducing the opportunities for cross-cutting political views.

Once the online structure of the news media and the modes of exposure it fosters have been assessed, I am going to make use of an experimental setting. Thanks to that I will analyse the effects of the network structure of online news content on public opinion. More specifically, and given the multidimensionality of public opinion, I am focused on the hierarchy of issues on the public agenda and the uncertainty of individuals’ stances.