Bridging polarised Twitter discussions: the interactions of the users in the middle
Aslib Journal of Information Management
ISSN: 2050-3806
Article publication date: 25 December 2020
Issue publication date: 23 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to analyse the interactions of bridging users in Twitter discussions about vaccination.
Design/methodology/approach
Conversational threads were collected through filtering the Twitter stream using keywords and the most active participants in the conversations. Following data collection and anonymisation of tweets and user profiles, a retweet network was created to find users bridging the main clusters. Four conversations were selected, ranging from 456 to 1,983 tweets long, and then analysed through content analysis.
Findings
Although different opinions met in the discussions, a consensus was rarely built. Many sub-threads involved insults and criticism, and participants seemed not interested in shifting their positions. However, examples of reasoned discussions were also found.
Originality/value
The study analyses conversations on Twitter, which is rarely studied. The focus on the interactions of bridging users adds to the uniqueness of the paper.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The dataset was collected as part of the Data4Impact project. Data4Impact has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770531.
Citation
Lorentzen, D.G. (2021), "Bridging polarised Twitter discussions: the interactions of the users in the middle", Aslib Journal of Information Management, Vol. 73 No. 2, pp. 129-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-05-2020-0154
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited