Social networks and spread of immigration attitudes

This study investigates how changes in immigration attitudes in an area spread to other localities. We use the exogenous variation in immigration attitudes from the Associated Press news wire service ban on the term “illegal immigrant,” which previous research has shown made immigration attitudes less hostile in more affected United States counties. We show that respondents in areas more socially connected (via Facebook) to those more affected by the ban exhibited improved immigration attitudes. Additional results suggest the likely channel is changing attitudes in socially connected counties and that people who use social media for political information are more affected.