The impact of online user-generated satire on young people’s political attitudes: Testing the moderating role of knowledge and discussion

• The study examines the impact of online user-generated political satire.
• The study shows how online satire exposure relates to candidate evaluation.
• The study demonstrates the impact of online satire exposure on systemic evaluation.
• The study illustrates how political discussion extends the impact of online satire.
• The study examines the above issues in the context of a non-democratic election.

This study examines the impact of online user-generated satirical content on young people’s political attitudes in the case of the 2012 Chief Executive election in Hong Kong. During the election, the unpopularity of the candidates and several candidate-related scandals led to the proliferation of online user-generated satire. This study asks whether exposure to such content affected young people’s candidate evaluations. More important, it examines whether online satire exposure also influenced attitude toward the electoral system. It is further hypothesized that political knowledge and interpersonal discussion may facilitate processes of elaboration that allow people to develop critiques of the electoral system based on the candidate-centered satire. Analysis of a survey on university students finds that online satire exposure did relate significantly to candidate evaluation, while a positive relationship between online satire exposure and critical attitude toward the electoral system exists among respondents who discussed the election with others. Contrary to expectation, ability to identify individual politicians, a type of political knowledge, undermined the linkage between online satire exposure and critical attitude toward the election.