Pub Date : 2026-02-26DOI: 10.1177/08944393261423174
Manuel Goyanes, Beatriz Jordá
Social media platforms offer ample opportunities for dialogue between both sides of the political spectrum. However, prior research suggests that users sometimes unfriend dissenting voices. While some studies argue that unfriending may lead to homogeneous information environments and potentially to heightened polarization, others indicate that users unfriend to preserve a manageable level of diversity. This study contributes to this literature by examining how cross-cutting discussion is directly and indirectly associated to unfriending through two types of behaviors: being politically corrected, a positive interaction linked to democratic, civic dynamics; and being insulted, a hostile behavior and prominent aspect of online incivility. The findings, based on two cross-sectional surveys conducted in Spain and Germany, showed that cross-cutting discussion is associated to unfriending directly and indirectly through being politically corrected and being insulted for political reasons. We also found no statistically significant differences in the two indirect effects in both countries. Taken together, our findings emphasize that users actively shield themselves from opposing views regardless of whether interactions are deemed as constructive (corrections) or hostile (insults).
{"title":"Filtering out the Opposition: How Cross-Cutting Discussions Increase Unfriending Through Political Corrections and Insults in Spain and Germany","authors":"Manuel Goyanes, Beatriz Jordá","doi":"10.1177/08944393261423174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261423174","url":null,"abstract":"Social media platforms offer ample opportunities for dialogue between both sides of the political spectrum. However, prior research suggests that users sometimes unfriend dissenting voices. While some studies argue that unfriending may lead to homogeneous information environments and potentially to heightened polarization, others indicate that users unfriend to preserve a manageable level of diversity. This study contributes to this literature by examining how cross-cutting discussion is directly and indirectly associated to unfriending through two types of behaviors: being politically corrected, a positive interaction linked to democratic, civic dynamics; and being insulted, a hostile behavior and prominent aspect of online incivility. The findings, based on two cross-sectional surveys conducted in Spain and Germany, showed that cross-cutting discussion is associated to unfriending directly and indirectly through being politically corrected and being insulted for political reasons. We also found no statistically significant differences in the two indirect effects in both countries. Taken together, our findings emphasize that users actively shield themselves from opposing views regardless of whether interactions are deemed as constructive (corrections) or hostile (insults).","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147287491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-17DOI: 10.1177/08944393261426534
Dennis Ekwemnachukwu Okeke, Margaret Adutwumwaa Boateng, Chibuzor Peter Okpala, Christiana Ibiwoye, Anthony Obi Okeke, Ousman Mbaye, Isaac Ebuka Obah
This study analyzes 15,000 user comments from ideologically distinct news platforms—Fox News (right-leaning), ABC News (left-leaning), and BBC News (centrist)—to investigate how political ideology shapes emotional expression and engagement following the July 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. We examine whether right-leaning comments exhibit elevated anger and hate speech, whether left-leaning comments show greater empathy and positive affect, and how emotional intensity influences engagement metrics such as likes and shares. Using computational science methods, we trace the evolution of emotional tone and toxicity over time, focusing on affective polarization triggered by a high-salience violent event. Our findings reveal that ideological alignment amplifies engagement with congruent emotional content, reinforcing echo chambers and intensifying online hostility. We address gaps in understanding how ideological echo chambers amplify polarized emotions and online hostility following a high-profile violent event, emphasizing the place of emotions in contemporary political communication and digital news consumption.
{"title":"Online Polarization and Violence in the United States: A Computational Analysis of Viewer Comments on Partisan News Coverage of President Donald Trump’s First Assassination Attempt","authors":"Dennis Ekwemnachukwu Okeke, Margaret Adutwumwaa Boateng, Chibuzor Peter Okpala, Christiana Ibiwoye, Anthony Obi Okeke, Ousman Mbaye, Isaac Ebuka Obah","doi":"10.1177/08944393261426534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261426534","url":null,"abstract":"This study analyzes 15,000 user comments from ideologically distinct news platforms—Fox News (right-leaning), ABC News (left-leaning), and BBC News (centrist)—to investigate how political ideology shapes emotional expression and engagement following the July 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. We examine whether right-leaning comments exhibit elevated anger and hate speech, whether left-leaning comments show greater empathy and positive affect, and how emotional intensity influences engagement metrics such as likes and shares. Using computational science methods, we trace the evolution of emotional tone and toxicity over time, focusing on affective polarization triggered by a high-salience violent event. Our findings reveal that ideological alignment amplifies engagement with congruent emotional content, reinforcing echo chambers and intensifying online hostility. We address gaps in understanding how ideological echo chambers amplify polarized emotions and online hostility following a high-profile violent event, emphasizing the place of emotions in contemporary political communication and digital news consumption.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"280 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146210177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-17DOI: 10.1177/08944393261427645
Yanhong Wu, Jianqiang Yu
This study aims to explain the diffusion pathways of coordinated inauthentic behavior during the Russia–Ukraine conflict. A dataset of 685,491 tweets containing the hashtag #russia on Twitter was used to construct a coordination network based on textual similarity and time synchronicity. By identifying leader-follower relationships, analyzing hourly time slices, and analyzing evolution metrics, four key insights were revealed. First, leaders constitute a stable core with an average of about 1741 nodes while peripheral followers fluctuate substantially, indicating a resilient core-peripheral structure. Second, diffusion advances across multiple fronts rather than remaining within single communities, with 67.05% of leader-follower ties crossing content clusters and the top 30 leaders posting across an average of 7.1 clusters and up to 9. Third, apparent synchronization is not driven by posting density alone but arises from rhythmic coupling between leaders and followers, as followers respond after an average delay of about 30 min and cluster peaks typically occur within less than 1 hour of each other. Fourth, diffusion capacity is not released once and for all but regenerates along a trajectory that moves from concentration to multiploidization and then to restructuring. Based on the results, we conceptualize coordinated inauthentic behavior as a strategically adaptive system with regenerative properties and provide governance implications.
{"title":"Unmasking Coordination: How Inauthentic Behavior Emerged and Diffusion During the Russia–Ukraine War on Twitter","authors":"Yanhong Wu, Jianqiang Yu","doi":"10.1177/08944393261427645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261427645","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to explain the diffusion pathways of coordinated inauthentic behavior during the Russia–Ukraine conflict. A dataset of 685,491 tweets containing the hashtag #russia on Twitter was used to construct a coordination network based on textual similarity and time synchronicity. By identifying leader-follower relationships, analyzing hourly time slices, and analyzing evolution metrics, four key insights were revealed. First, leaders constitute a stable core with an average of about 1741 nodes while peripheral followers fluctuate substantially, indicating a resilient core-peripheral structure. Second, diffusion advances across multiple fronts rather than remaining within single communities, with 67.05% of leader-follower ties crossing content clusters and the top 30 leaders posting across an average of 7.1 clusters and up to 9. Third, apparent synchronization is not driven by posting density alone but arises from rhythmic coupling between leaders and followers, as followers respond after an average delay of about 30 min and cluster peaks typically occur within less than 1 hour of each other. Fourth, diffusion capacity is not released once and for all but regenerates along a trajectory that moves from concentration to multiploidization and then to restructuring. Based on the results, we conceptualize coordinated inauthentic behavior as a strategically adaptive system with regenerative properties and provide governance implications.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146210178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-17DOI: 10.1177/08944393261427642
Mehdi Reza Sarafraz, Nasim Nazari, Aida Peyvandi
Recently, social media addiction (SMA) has increased globally. Like other addictions, it can have detrimental effects on individuals. Despite growing concerns, limited research has explored the relationship between SMA and critical thinking (CT) and the mechanisms underlying this connection. Therefore, this study investigated this relationship by focusing on executive function (EF) as a potential mediator. A survey using the Internet Addiction Test-Social Networking Sites (IAT–SNS) version, Critical Thinking Disposition, and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function—Adult Version (BRIEF-A) was conducted with 307 Iranian young adults aged 18 to 40 years (M = 23.35, SD = 4.45; 72.6% female). The findings revealed a significant positive association between executive dysfunction and SMA and a significant negative association between executive dysfunction and CT. Structural equation modeling indicated no direct correlation between SMA and CT; rather, the relationship was mediated by EF, with only the indirect effects via EF being statistically significant. These results suggest that executive dysfunction acts as a risk-enhancing mediator in the relationship between SMA and CT. Further experimental studies are required to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these associations. Interventions should be developed to mitigate the negative effects of SMA on EF and CT.
{"title":"Effects of Social Media Addiction on Critical Thinking: The Mediating Role of Executive Function","authors":"Mehdi Reza Sarafraz, Nasim Nazari, Aida Peyvandi","doi":"10.1177/08944393261427642","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261427642","url":null,"abstract":"Recently, social media addiction (SMA) has increased globally. Like other addictions, it can have detrimental effects on individuals. Despite growing concerns, limited research has explored the relationship between SMA and critical thinking (CT) and the mechanisms underlying this connection. Therefore, this study investigated this relationship by focusing on executive function (EF) as a potential mediator. A survey using the Internet Addiction Test-Social Networking Sites (IAT–SNS) version, Critical Thinking Disposition, and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function—Adult Version (BRIEF-A) was conducted with 307 Iranian young adults aged 18 to 40 years (M = 23.35, SD = 4.45; 72.6% female). The findings revealed a significant positive association between executive dysfunction and SMA and a significant negative association between executive dysfunction and CT. Structural equation modeling indicated no direct correlation between SMA and CT; rather, the relationship was mediated by EF, with only the indirect effects via EF being statistically significant. These results suggest that executive dysfunction acts as a risk-enhancing mediator in the relationship between SMA and CT. Further experimental studies are required to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these associations. Interventions should be developed to mitigate the negative effects of SMA on EF and CT.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"94 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146205087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-16DOI: 10.1177/08944393261426533
Muhammad Awais
Pakistan is one of the few remaining countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic, despite decades of eradication campaigns. Yet, vaccine hesitancy persists, not merely due to biomedical skepticism but through digital discourse. Drawing on 6,399 Urdu language tweets, this study uses natural language processing and lexicon based modeling to test four hypotheses on the emotional and symbolic drivers of hesitancy. Emotions are operationalized using the NRC Emotion Lexicon, treating trust and fear as measurable affective signals. The findings challenge Western behavioral models such as the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM): trust is negatively associated with hesitancy, whereas fear is positively associated with it even when trust is present. Notably, fear’s effect weakens in security framed tweets, which express moral resolve and collective strength rather than panic. Religious framing also predicts hesitancy, but it is often based on misquoted or misinterpreted religious references. In many cases, such discourse misaligns with the actual teachings of the religion, which historically endorse disease prevention and public health. Vaccine hesitancy in this context emerges not as an individual risk judgment, but as a culturally embedded form of communicative resistance, requiring discourse based, context sensitive approaches to global health communication.
{"title":"Polio Beyond the Drop: Rethinking Vaccine Hesitancy in Urdu Tweets Beyond Western Behavioral Models","authors":"Muhammad Awais","doi":"10.1177/08944393261426533","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261426533","url":null,"abstract":"Pakistan is one of the few remaining countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic, despite decades of eradication campaigns. Yet, vaccine hesitancy persists, not merely due to biomedical skepticism but through digital discourse. Drawing on 6,399 Urdu language tweets, this study uses natural language processing and lexicon based modeling to test four hypotheses on the emotional and symbolic drivers of hesitancy. Emotions are operationalized using the NRC Emotion Lexicon, treating trust and fear as measurable affective signals. The findings challenge Western behavioral models such as the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM): trust is negatively associated with hesitancy, whereas fear is positively associated with it even when trust is present. Notably, fear’s effect weakens in security framed tweets, which express moral resolve and collective strength rather than panic. Religious framing also predicts hesitancy, but it is often based on misquoted or misinterpreted religious references. In many cases, such discourse misaligns with the actual teachings of the religion, which historically endorse disease prevention and public health. Vaccine hesitancy in this context emerges not as an individual risk judgment, but as a culturally embedded form of communicative resistance, requiring discourse based, context sensitive approaches to global health communication.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"326 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146205092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-14DOI: 10.1177/08944393261424832
Amirhosein Bodaghi
This study examines how elite figures shape polarisation on Twitter/X through the interplay of content, structure, and engagement strategy. Drawing on data from nine globally influential users (2010–2021), the research integrates natural language processing, network analysis, and causal modelling to test five hypotheses grounded in social identity, agenda-setting, and two-step flow theories. Entity co-occurrence networks reveal that polarised discourse forms denser, more clustered networks than non-polarised content, indicating tighter semantic cohesion around socially and politically charged entities. Thematic and sentiment analyses show that posts addressing non-core topics – particularly those concerning social justice, environmental sustainability, philanthropy, and global welfare – are nearly five times more likely to be polarised than core professional themes. Negative emotional tone further amplifies this effect, while higher tweet-to-retweet ratios reduce polarisation, underscoring the moderating role of original content production. A user-level mediation analysis tested whether topical diversity transmits the effect of follower scale on polarisation but found no significant indirect pathway, suggesting that larger audiences do not necessarily foster communicative moderation. The findings advance understanding of elite discourse by linking structural and thematic polarisation to behavioural mechanisms of engagement. Theoretically, the study bridges social identity, agenda-setting, and two-step flow frameworks to explain how elites balance audience alignment and expressive risk. Practically, it highlights how emphasising original content, inclusive framing, and professional identity consistency can mitigate divisive online dynamics and foster more cohesive digital publics. To support transparency and reproducibility, the dataset and analytical code are made publicly available.
{"title":"Elite Polarisation on Twitter/X: Structural and Behavioural Dynamics in Public Discourse","authors":"Amirhosein Bodaghi","doi":"10.1177/08944393261424832","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261424832","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines how elite figures shape polarisation on Twitter/X through the interplay of content, structure, and engagement strategy. Drawing on data from nine globally influential users (2010–2021), the research integrates natural language processing, network analysis, and causal modelling to test five hypotheses grounded in social identity, agenda-setting, and two-step flow theories. Entity co-occurrence networks reveal that polarised discourse forms denser, more clustered networks than non-polarised content, indicating tighter semantic cohesion around socially and politically charged entities. Thematic and sentiment analyses show that posts addressing non-core topics – particularly those concerning social justice, environmental sustainability, philanthropy, and global welfare – are nearly five times more likely to be polarised than core professional themes. Negative emotional tone further amplifies this effect, while higher tweet-to-retweet ratios reduce polarisation, underscoring the moderating role of original content production. A user-level mediation analysis tested whether topical diversity transmits the effect of follower scale on polarisation but found no significant indirect pathway, suggesting that larger audiences do not necessarily foster communicative moderation. The findings advance understanding of elite discourse by linking structural and thematic polarisation to behavioural mechanisms of engagement. Theoretically, the study bridges social identity, agenda-setting, and two-step flow frameworks to explain how elites balance audience alignment and expressive risk. Practically, it highlights how emphasising original content, inclusive framing, and professional identity consistency can mitigate divisive online dynamics and foster more cohesive digital publics. To support transparency and reproducibility, the dataset and analytical code are made publicly available.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146196437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-04DOI: 10.1177/08944393261421114
Conor Gaughan, Alexandru Cernat, Rachel Gibson, Marta Cantijoch, Riza Batista-Navarro
Survey research is entering a new era which centres on its linkage with other forms of digitally generated data such as social media. Many suggest that this can help to address existing weaknesses in self-report surveys such as non-response and measurement bias. However, to link a participant’s survey responses to their social media data, consent from the participant is required. Previous studies have shown that consent to linkage is typically low and selective. This paper expands on the existing literature by comparing Twitter (now X) usage and consent to survey linkage across five national contexts. Testing the effects of several sociodemographic and attitudinal predictors in the US, the UK, France, Germany and Poland, our study finds that overall consent rates vary significantly by age, political attention, privacy concern, trust in social media companies and frequency of political posting on Twitter/X. However, our results also confirm that variable effects differ significantly between nations, suggesting a moderating cultural influence. Within-country variation in the US between 2020 and 2024 is also present, indicating that effects are not necessarily fixed over time. These findings dictate the need for caution when conducting substantive comparisons across countries and time when using social media data.
{"title":"Who Consents to Sharing Their Tweets With Researchers? A Comparative Analysis of Selection Bias in Linked Survey and Social Media Data","authors":"Conor Gaughan, Alexandru Cernat, Rachel Gibson, Marta Cantijoch, Riza Batista-Navarro","doi":"10.1177/08944393261421114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261421114","url":null,"abstract":"Survey research is entering a new era which centres on its linkage with other forms of digitally generated data such as social media. Many suggest that this can help to address existing weaknesses in self-report surveys such as non-response and measurement bias. However, to link a participant’s survey responses to their social media data, consent from the participant is required. Previous studies have shown that consent to linkage is typically low and selective. This paper expands on the existing literature by comparing Twitter (now X) usage and consent to survey linkage across five national contexts. Testing the effects of several sociodemographic and attitudinal predictors in the US, the UK, France, Germany and Poland, our study finds that overall consent rates vary significantly by age, political attention, privacy concern, trust in social media companies and frequency of political posting on Twitter/X. However, our results also confirm that variable effects differ significantly between nations, suggesting a moderating cultural influence. Within-country variation in the US between 2020 and 2024 is also present, indicating that effects are not necessarily fixed over time. These findings dictate the need for caution when conducting substantive comparisons across countries and time when using social media data.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"88 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1177/08944393261419776
Paul Muya, Tabitha Onyinge
This study examines the impact of performatives and evolving social media typology in shaping political activism among Kenya’s Generation Z (Gen Z) movement during the 2024 anti-tax law protests. The study addresses the questions of the role of performatives and how social media has revolutionised their production, reproduction, and consumption in political activism in Kenya. Based on qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis, the study employed purposive sampling of a collection of digital artefacts, including memes, protest songs, TikTok videos, graffiti-inspired art, and Twitter threads, which were drawn from the #RejectFinanceBill2024 campaign. Analytical categories were derived from literature on performative activism, postcolonial media theory, and digital political communication. The findings suggest that Kenya’s Gen Z activists adopted a highly performative mode of social media resistance, blending entertainment with activism. The content of performatives was found to function not only as expressive tools but also as mechanisms for mobilising support, challenging state narratives, and asserting digital visibility. Social media was found to circumvent traditional media gatekeeping, amplifying the voices of the marginalised, and fostering an enlightened political culture. The study identifies a cyclic loop of production and reproduction of performatives, reinforcing African people’s communal identity formation and resistance posturing. Findings highlight how Gen Z’s social media use is reshaping civic engagement in the postcolonial public sphere. The study advances theoretical understanding of how visual and performative content is democratising political discourse, disrupting power hierarchies, and deepening participatory governance in the Global South. This study contributes to the body of literature on digital media and political communication by illuminating the intersection of social movement, culture, aesthetics, and performativities in resistance. These insights are particularly relevant for scholars and practitioners interested in digital media use, activism, political communication, and youth-led social movements.
{"title":"New Media, Meme Culture and Political Satire: The Role of Performative Art in Political Activism in Kenya","authors":"Paul Muya, Tabitha Onyinge","doi":"10.1177/08944393261419776","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261419776","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the impact of performatives and evolving social media typology in shaping political activism among Kenya’s Generation Z (Gen Z) movement during the 2024 anti-tax law protests. The study addresses the questions of the role of performatives and how social media has revolutionised their production, reproduction, and consumption in political activism in Kenya. Based on qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis, the study employed purposive sampling of a collection of digital artefacts, including memes, protest songs, TikTok videos, graffiti-inspired art, and Twitter threads, which were drawn from the #RejectFinanceBill2024 campaign. Analytical categories were derived from literature on performative activism, postcolonial media theory, and digital political communication. The findings suggest that Kenya’s Gen Z activists adopted a highly performative mode of social media resistance, blending entertainment with activism. The content of performatives was found to function not only as expressive tools but also as mechanisms for mobilising support, challenging state narratives, and asserting digital visibility. Social media was found to circumvent traditional media gatekeeping, amplifying the voices of the marginalised, and fostering an enlightened political culture. The study identifies a cyclic loop of production and reproduction of performatives, reinforcing African people’s communal identity formation and resistance posturing. Findings highlight how Gen Z’s social media use is reshaping civic engagement in the postcolonial public sphere. The study advances theoretical understanding of how visual and performative content is democratising political discourse, disrupting power hierarchies, and deepening participatory governance in the Global South. This study contributes to the body of literature on digital media and political communication by illuminating the intersection of social movement, culture, aesthetics, and performativities in resistance. These insights are particularly relevant for scholars and practitioners interested in digital media use, activism, political communication, and youth-led social movements.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022 reversed 50 years of precedent by allowing states to formulate their own abortion policies. This resetting of abortion policy created a new raft of opportunities and threats across the states for both pro-life and pro-choice supporters. In this study, we aim to analyze how public discourse around abortion responded to this changed political context. Using a dataset of 288,325 abortion-related Tweets posted in 2022, we examine public reaction to Dobbs using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. We categorize Tweets by abortion stance (pro-choice and pro-life ) and geo-political context by state groups ( protected, restricted, and unsettled based on abortion access policy). Our temporal analysis shows that while both pro-choice and pro-life Twitter activity spiked after both the leaked draft in May 2022 and the final decision, only pro-choice discussions maintained a heightened level of engagement over time. Analyzing the discussion frames among the Tweets reveals that pro-choice users emphasized a wider range of arguments that varied by state context, while pro-life Tweets were generally unresponsive to state context. Our findings indicate that the new threats and opportunities had uneven effects within pro-life and pro-choice public discourse.
{"title":"States of Abortion Talk: Social Media Responses to Threats and Opportunities Post-Dobbs","authors":"Nafisa Nowshin, Kelsy Kretschmer, Glencora Borradaile","doi":"10.1177/08944393261421115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261421115","url":null,"abstract":"The Supreme Court’s <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</jats:italic> decision in June 2022 reversed 50 years of precedent by allowing states to formulate their own abortion policies. This resetting of abortion policy created a new raft of opportunities and threats across the states for both pro-life and pro-choice supporters. In this study, we aim to analyze how public discourse around abortion responded to this changed political context. Using a dataset of 288,325 abortion-related Tweets posted in 2022, we examine public reaction to <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Dobbs</jats:italic> using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. We categorize Tweets by abortion stance <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">(pro-choice</jats:italic> and <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">pro-life</jats:italic> ) and geo-political context by state groups ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">protected, restricted,</jats:italic> and <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">unsettled</jats:italic> based on abortion access policy). Our temporal analysis shows that while both pro-choice and pro-life Twitter activity spiked after both the leaked draft in May 2022 and the final decision, only pro-choice discussions maintained a heightened level of engagement over time. Analyzing the discussion frames among the Tweets reveals that pro-choice users emphasized a wider range of arguments that varied by state context, while pro-life Tweets were generally unresponsive to state context. Our findings indicate that the new threats and opportunities had uneven effects within pro-life and pro-choice public discourse.","PeriodicalId":49509,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Computer Review","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-31DOI: 10.1177/08944393261417730
Yuri Kasahara, Daniel Thilo Schroeder, Anis Yazidi, Pedro G. Lind
This study investigates the dynamics of anti-Muslim hate speech within Norwegian social media during the period between 2010 and 2021. Using a dataset of more than one million comments from Twitter and Facebook, we developed a custom hate speech classifier trained on an annotated corpus of 3,277 comments in Norwegian language. We identify that despite representing a small share of the total comments, hate speech content has increased over time. In an effort to understand the social network characteristics of hate speech content, we delve deeper into Twitter conversations as we can more easily identify how this content is spread. We develop network metrics to assess the prevalence, distribution, and diffusion of hateful content. The findings reveal that regardless of the number of users or tweets in a conversation, the volume of hateful content tends to remain constant. Furthermore, a small fraction of users contribute disproportionately to the dissemination of hate speech, with most conversations being limited in participant diversity. These results contribute to the growing field of computational social science by offering a novel methodology for studying hate speech in under-resourced languages and suggesting that mitigating hate speech may be possible through targeted network interventions rather than content removal alone.
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