Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network Analysis
In an era of intense partisanship, there is widespread concern that people are self-sorting into separate online communities which are detached from one another. Referred to as echo chambers , the phenomenon is sometimes attributed to the new media landscape and internet ecosystem. Of particular con...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Social Media + Society |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231186368 |
| _version_ | 1797756389523718144 |
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| author | Jacob Erickson Bei Yan Jingyun Huang |
| author_facet | Jacob Erickson Bei Yan Jingyun Huang |
| author_sort | Jacob Erickson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In an era of intense partisanship, there is widespread concern that people are self-sorting into separate online communities which are detached from one another. Referred to as echo chambers , the phenomenon is sometimes attributed to the new media landscape and internet ecosystem. Of particular concern is the idea that communication between disparate groups is breaking down due to a lack of a shared reality. In this article, we look to evaluate these assumptions. Applying text and semantic network analyses, we study the language of users who represent distinct partisan political ideologies on Reddit and their discussions in light of the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riots. By analyzing over 58k posts and 3.4 million comments across three subreddits, r/politics, r/democrats, and r/Republican, we explore how these distinct groups discuss political events to understand the possibility of bridging across echo chambers. The findings of this research study provide insight into how members of distinct online groups interpret major political events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:59:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b4b736a53288414494db10e22c392142 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-3051 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:59:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Media + Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-b4b736a53288414494db10e22c3921422023-08-02T13:03:26ZengSAGE PublishingSocial Media + Society2056-30512023-08-01910.1177/20563051231186368Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network AnalysisJacob EricksonBei YanJingyun HuangIn an era of intense partisanship, there is widespread concern that people are self-sorting into separate online communities which are detached from one another. Referred to as echo chambers , the phenomenon is sometimes attributed to the new media landscape and internet ecosystem. Of particular concern is the idea that communication between disparate groups is breaking down due to a lack of a shared reality. In this article, we look to evaluate these assumptions. Applying text and semantic network analyses, we study the language of users who represent distinct partisan political ideologies on Reddit and their discussions in light of the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riots. By analyzing over 58k posts and 3.4 million comments across three subreddits, r/politics, r/democrats, and r/Republican, we explore how these distinct groups discuss political events to understand the possibility of bridging across echo chambers. The findings of this research study provide insight into how members of distinct online groups interpret major political events.https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231186368 |
| spellingShingle | Jacob Erickson Bei Yan Jingyun Huang Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network Analysis Social Media + Society |
| title | Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network Analysis |
| title_full | Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network Analysis |
| title_short | Bridging Echo Chambers? Understanding Political Partisanship through Semantic Network Analysis |
| title_sort | bridging echo chambers understanding political partisanship through semantic network analysis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231186368 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jacoberickson bridgingechochambersunderstandingpoliticalpartisanshipthroughsemanticnetworkanalysis AT beiyan bridgingechochambersunderstandingpoliticalpartisanshipthroughsemanticnetworkanalysis AT jingyunhuang bridgingechochambersunderstandingpoliticalpartisanshipthroughsemanticnetworkanalysis |