Bridging polarised Twitter discussions: the interactions of the users in the middle

• Published in: Aslib journal of information management Vol. 73; no. 2; pp. 129 - 143
• Main Author: Lorentzen, David Gunnarsson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 24.02.2021; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Argumentation; Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap; Content analysis; Controversies; Data collection; Immunization; Library and Information Science; Polarisation; Social networks; Tagging; Twitter conversations; Twitter discussions; Vaccination; Verbal communication; Polarisation; Twitter conversations; Argumentation; Twitter discussions; Controversies; Vaccination
• ISSN: 2050-3806; 2050-3814; 1758-3748
• DOI: 10.1108/AJIM-05-2020-0154

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to analyse the interactions of bridging users in Twitter discussions about vaccination.Design/methodology/approachConversational 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.FindingsAlthough 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/valueThe study analyses conversations on Twitter, which is rarely studied. The focus on the interactions of bridging users adds to the uniqueness of the paper.