How individual sensitivities to disagreement shape youth political expression on Facebook

•Mixed-methods study to examine youth perceptions of political content on Facebook.•Complicated social norms govern appropriate youth political expression on Facebook.•Qualitative interviews suggest politics on Facebook associated with rants and drama.•Survey finds effects of disagreement depend on interest and conflict avoidance.•Disagreement on Facebook only uncomfortable and demobilizing for some individuals.

Social networking sites like Facebook increasingly shape youth engagement with politics, but less is known about the factors that shape willingness to engage in political interaction on the site. This study combines twenty in-depth interviews with a survey of young adults to examine how individual predispositions, perceptions of the Facebook political climate, and network characteristics shape attitudes and behaviors toward posting political content on Facebook. Our results suggest that predispositions like political interest and conflict avoidance create distinct “sensitivities” to Facebook’s political climate and the potential for contentious political disagreement that condition willingness to post about politics.