Amplifying Counter-Public Spheres on Social Media: News Sharing of Alternative Versus Traditional Media After the 2019 Chilean Uprising

Abstract

While much research exists on the role of digital media use in protest movements, few studies compare the long-term impact of protests on online use of alternative and mainstream digital media. This holds particularly true in countries of the global south. Our study addresses this knowledge gap by examining the massive demonstrations that occurred in Chile on 18 October 2019. Based on data from 1,221,487 Facebook posts from 31 media outlets collected 10 months before and after the protests, we detected significant discontinuities in users’ interactions with news content. Whereas both media types display different baseline levels, for alternative media, the time series reflects a “step” type of shock—a long-lasting increase in news sharing—whereas for mainstream media, it is a “pulse” type of shock—a burst of interactions that quickly returned to pre-existing levels. These results suggest that social media users relied on alternative news media to amplify counter-public spheres in Chile.

Predictors of perceptions of human rights violations during the Chilean social outburst of 2019

“…Meanwhile, alternative media sources experienced a more lasting shock. This boost helped alternative, online outlets to counter mainstream narratives, causing public opinion “to question traditional media and its coverage of the riots, social unrest, and police repression and human rights abuses” ( Luna et al, 2022 , p. 2). In some traditional outlets, the scope of disruption and repression caused journalists to question more detached approaches to the production of news content, leading some to adopt an “epistemic mode where journalists validate the decision to take a position in the conflict, which in the uprising was a commitment to stories of police abuse and human rights violations” ( Orchard and Fergnani, 2022 , p. 12).…”

Immigrant-critical alternative media in online conversations

“…Another study by Wang et al that considered trustworthy and untrustworthy news sources instead of mainstream versus alternative ones arrived at a similar result and suggested that small communities can become extremely effective in pushing news stories to other communities [ 21 ]. Another relevant contribution to the existing evidence was made by Luna et al who highlighted the differences in the dissemination of mainstream versus alternative media on Facebook: while alternative news content sharing was steadily increasing with time after the publication, mainstream news content sharing, in contrast, followed a burst and decay pattern [ 22 ]. Despite the existing evidence, little is known about the impact of alternative media content on the dynamics of discussions in fringe communities and whether such content reinforces or even produces more negative attitudes and narratives about the discussion topics.…”

Sherlock-wannabes or when the audience fact-checks. How ideology, education, and alternative media use explain fact-checking behaviors

“…On the other hand, alternative media tend to represent ideas from the extreme sides of the political spectrum. During the country's last episodes of social unrest, analysts have said that alternative media even aligned with protesters' and social movements' demands (Luna et al, 2022). While alternative news sources used to be considered not as professional-or not as objective-as traditional news outlets (in Chile but also elsewhere, as explained by Holt et al, 2019), alternative media are nowadays considered a legitimate source of information, reaching high peaks of popularity and news consumption in the country (Newman et al, 2021), especially after Chile's political riots in October 2019, when they reached a sustained growth in audience (Luna et al, 2022).…”