Posts and Polarization

College students are learning everyday, more and more about the divisive political landscape. And social media isn’t a very good teacher.

By Rash Vinakota

Sofia Bellagatti, a Montclair State University student and president of the campus chapter of Turning Point USA, felt her mental health strain after a classmate sent her a cruel comment on Snapchat. She is not alone: nearly one-third of Montclair students report experiencing negative reactions when discussing political topics on social media.

 

College campuses are increasingly divisive, despite being a space where students can express their opinions and learn to debate civilly and develop open-mindedness. “Everybody should feel safe enough to speak about what they believe in. No matter what it is, everybody should. Nobody should feel silence. And especially not on campus,” said Sofia Bellagatti. 

Bellagatti, the president of Montclair’s chapter of Turning Point USA said she was exercising her First Amendment rights when her club organized a vigil for Charlie Kirk, a right-wing American political activist who went around to college campuses to debate students on American policy. 

Kirk had a huge following on social media and a large support in colleges and otherwise. He passed away in October at one of his events when he was shot in the neck. It devastated the conservative community of the United States. He left behind the legacy of being a youth organizer and Turning Point USA.

 

“We had the Charlie Kirk vigil, and when we started posting about it, people said really awful things…but it was the comments and messages that I was getting directly that were rough to deal with” – Sofia Bellagatti, President of Turning Point, Montclair

 

Montclair is a liberal campus, 62% of the students who answered an original survey for 100 Montclair students said they identify as liberal. Many students weren’t fond of the idea of a vigil for Charlie Kirk. Students began leaving rude comments about the club and club members on a post of the event’s coverage by The Montclarion. One student said “Fascists do not belong on this campus”, and is “a disappointment to the communities this school claims to serve.” Bellagatti said she was scared for her safety and took a hiatus from social media. 

Debate has always been at the cornerstone of expressing oneself. However,  Pew Research Center found out that 84% of American adults find political debates to be disrespectful.  A survey of 100 Montclair State University students found a similar pattern, with nearly 75% of the students who said political debates on campus are not civil. 

 

“Much of the polarization that escalated in recent decades was largely driven by misperceptions people have about ordinary partisans on the other side,” said Johanna Dunaway, a researcher at Syracuse University. Her research continues to postulate that if the only members of either party who receive any kind of media attention are extreme ones, it becomes the ordinary norm representing that party. A team from the Stanford History Education Group conducted research on college students and found out that despite being the age group most using social media, they have had difficulty determining the credibility of an article. They were unable to provide enough complex reasoning to why information from a specific source was or was not reliable. 

 

Since the presidential election in 2024, the United States has seen an increase in political polarization. With this increase in extremism affecting college students, it is important for them to be digitally literate. “we should have some kind of, like, internet ethics, media literacy, information literacy course, and that would maybe help students get on a better path,” said Dr. Bond Benton, a professor and researcher at Montclair State University. 

Dr. Benton goes on to talk about the various methods universities can utilize to train their students to be digitally literate. For example, having discussions in classrooms about whether a source is credible and how to do your own research instead of believing everything you see on social media. Developing this skill is just becoming more and more important in this age of technology. This is because generation Z, young adults born between 1997 and 2012, are using TikTok as their primary source of news. 

The Montclair survey found that Instagram was most utilized (94.3%) but TikTok came in second (56.3%) with their most used platform. 

Political stress has been a big factor to students’ mental health since 2024. A survey by Timely Care found out that 65% of students surveyed were anxious about the presidential election in 2024. This is added to the pressures students face fueled by classes, peers, family, job and internship life, etc. This led to a rise in depression and anxiety in college aged students. 

To help, schools and colleges are trying various strategies to teach students coping skills to also develop media and digital literacy. In addition to pushing out mental health resources, schools like Montclair State University has an office of voter and civic engagement which focuses on hosting events geared towards educating students about the political landscape. The department also facilitates conversations about media literacy and taking a more careful look at news sources. 

 

 

 

Rash Vinakota is a senior journalism and digital media major at Montclair State University. Graduating in May 2026, over her college career, she has culminated skills in photojournalism, reporting, video production and radio. She was the executive producer of Montclair News Lab in spring 2025 and now serves as programming director for WMSC FM. She aspires to be a multimedia journalist and reporter.