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Are Echo Chambers Based on Partisanship? Twitter and Political Polarity in Poland and Hungary

Matuszewski, Paweł and Szabó, Gabriella (2019) Are Echo Chambers Based on Partisanship? Twitter and Political Polarity in Poland and Hungary. SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIETY, 5 (2). ISSN 2056-3051

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Abstract

In this study, we investigate how Twitter allows individuals in Hungary and Poland to experience different political views. To comprehend citizens’ exposure to political information, “who’s following who?” graphs of 455,912 users in Hungary (851,557 connections) and 1,803,837 users in Poland (10,124,501 connections) are examined. Our conceptual point of departure is that Twitter follower networks tell us whether individuals prefer to be members of a group that receives one-sided political messages, or whether they tend to form politically heterogeneous clusters that cut across ideological lines. Methodologically, such connections are best studied by means of computer-aided quantitative research complemented by the sociocentric approach of network analysis. Our data date from September 2018. The findings for Poland do not support the hypothesis of clusters emerging along partisan lines. Likewise, the Hungarian case reveals sharp group divisions on Twitter, the nodes however are diverse and overlapping in terms of political leaning. The data suggest that exposure and segregation in follower networks are not necessarily based on partisanship.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences / társadalomtudományok > H Social Sciences (General) / társadalomtudomány általában
J Political Science / politológia > JA Political science (General) / politológia általában
SWORD Depositor: MTMT SWORD
Depositing User: MTMT SWORD
Date Deposited: 16 Dec 2019 12:38
Last Modified: 16 Dec 2019 12:38
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/104346

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