Visual overload: The influence of broadcast social media visuals on televised debate viewing outcomes.

The article examines the impact of incorporating on-screen Twitter content during the 2015 and 2016 CBS U.S. presidential primary debates on viewers’ cognitive processing, knowledge acquisition, persuasion, and political polarization. Using a mixed-method approach—including content analysis of tweets shown during the debates and an eye-tracking study of viewers watching the 2015 Democratic primary debate—the research finds that social media visuals distracted viewers from candidate messages, reducing their learning about policies and decreasing agreement with candidates’ positions. Additionally, exposure to Twitter feeds increased affective polarization between Democrats and Republicans, though it did not significantly affect differentiation among Democratic candidates. The study suggests that the inclusion of social media information during televised debates may overwhelm viewers’ cognitive capacity, thereby undermining democratic engagement and recommends simplifying debate visuals to enhance voter comprehension and attitude formation.