Feeling Polarized? An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Central Albertans Responses to Polarizing Content on Facebook

Abstract

Polarization is a growing problem in Canada, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. Despite this, scholarly research shows that most studies examining digital polarization focus on the content or technologies driving polarization rather than on users' lived experiences interacting with polarizing content. This research sought to address this gap by exploring the lived experiences of Central Albertans of encountering polarizing content on Facebook. Following an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, this study illuminated the roles of echo chambers, out-group animosity, fundamental attribution errors, and algorithms in the process of affective polarization. As IPA is concerned with the affective experience of the participants, the use of IPA as a methodological approach enabled an in-depth examination of the meanings that the participants ascribed to the emotionally laden phenomena of affective polarization based on their own personal reflections (Kurniawati, 2025). The findings show that when users see emotionally charged, algorithmically generated content, they interpret it and make negative assumptions about those posting in Facebook comment threads. This process is leading to greater out-group animosity and demonstrates that these four conditions significantly shape the conversation about affective polarization within communities.