Ferguson on Facebook: Political persuasion in a new era of media effects

• We tested the effects of political comedy in a simulated Facebook environment.
• We examined social pressure in a simulated Facebook environment.
• Participants in the experiment were asked to view political comedy on social media.
• Results show a message-consistent persuasive effect of political comedy.
• Message-incongruent commentary on social media reduces persuasion effects.

In 2014, media outlets deemed political satirist John Oliver's show the best of the year. Described as “the online water-cooler,” his show has become a talking point for many on social media. In this study, we tested the effects of such political comedy and the influence of social pressure in a simulated Facebook environment (N = 189). Participants in this experiment were asked to view a video clip from Oliver's show (high or low salience topic) and in two of the four conditions, a series of Facebook comments contradicting Oliver's views (as a form of social pressure) were provided. Results support a message-consistent persuasive effect of political comedy for both high and low salience issues but finds that message-incongruent commentary reduces this persuasive effect. Thus, the current study provides further insight regarding persuasive effects of sharing political information on social media and new opportunities for exposing entertainment seekers to politics.