Caught in a networked collusion? Homogeneity in conspiracy-related discussion networks on YouTube

Röchert, Daniel; Neubaum, German; Roß, Björn; Stieglitz, Stefan

doi:10.1016/j.is.2021.101866

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, understanding the personae in comment sections can aid in the creation of manual and automated detection processes for identifying the specific networks of values that charge white supremacy and conspiratorial discourse. This approach expands upon research already conducted on YouTube comments, the majority of which is quantitative (Allington & Joshi, 2020; Miller, 2021; Röchert et al, 2022). These studies, however, do not engage with the concept of textual personae, despite its potential to afford more accessible understandings of the construction of conspiracist and white supremacist discourse and to aid strategies for counteracting this dangerous language.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…YouTube appears particularly amenable to platforming conspiracies and misinformation (Röchert et al, 2022). These are discursive practices that have also been closely linked to xenophobic discourses, such as islamophobia (Farkas et al, 2018; Shooman, 2016) and antisemitism (Allington et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introduction: White Supremacists and Conspiracy Theories On ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Conspiracy Theories and White Supremacy on YouTube: Exploring Affiliation and Legitimation Strategies in YouTube Comments

Inwood

Zappavigna

2023

Social Media + Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Misinformation and hate speech are prevalent issues in social media research, as well as the rise of far-right extremists, white supremacists, and conspiracy theorists. In response to these concerns about unethical behavior on social media, this article explores how underlying social bonds proposed by conspiracists are discursively negotiated in YouTube comments. Through close qualitative analysis of a corpus of comments about the Notre Dame Cathedral fire, a target of xenophobic and conspiratorial claims, the study identifies the range of recurrent textual personae who respond to the conspiracy theories in the videos. The analytical focus is on the values these personae express and the discursive legitimation strategies used to strengthen their claims. This article is methodologically grounded in a social semiotic approach. Seven textual personae are identified in the dataset that each realizes a particular patterning of social bonds and legitimation strategies, for example, “Educators” legitimated the authority of experts and explained why content was false, while “White Supremacists” and “Inciters” sanctioned technology and negatively evaluated particular social groups. The method employed identifies the attitudinal positions and legitimation strategies that are at the heart of the various ideologies underlying conspiracy theories. It is a step toward developing approaches for combating misinformation and hate speech that are targeted at the key values of specific communities, and avoid overgeneralizing the motivations to produce and consume conspiratorial discourse. This approach is important since arguing logical points alone, without considering the key bonds people share, is unlikely to help in combating conspiratorial discourses.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction: White Supremacists and Conspiracy Theories On ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Conspiracy Theories and White Supremacy on YouTube: Exploring Affiliation and Legitimation Strategies in YouTube Comments

Inwood

Zappavigna

2023

Social Media + Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A este respecto, se procedió a llevar a cabo un proceso de duplicación y filtrado de los términos de los títulos, con el objetivo de eliminar ruido, normalizar plurales, sinónimos, etc. Finalmente, para la visualización de las listas semánticas, se utiliza un enfoque semántico-proposicional (Maida y Shapiro, 1982) mediante el uso de Gephi (Benito, 2014), que ha sido utilizado con éxito en diferentes investigaciones, como el análisis de redes de conversación alrededor de hashtags en Twitter (Bruns, 2012), el lenguaje empleado en noticias sobre crímenes (Brett, 2017), para conocer quiénes son los principales difusores de noticias científicas a nivel mundial en Twitter (Van Rooyen, 2017), explorar cómo los individuos están expuestos a la desinformación antivacunas en YouTube (Tang et al, 2021) o la homogeneidad en las redes de discusión relacionadas con los conspiracionistas en YouTube (Röchert et al, 2022), entre otros. En relación con lo anterior, se ha llevado a cabo un proceso análogo para recabar, analizar, filtrar y visualizar las dos redes de comentarios:…”

Section: Análisis Semánticounclassified

El conflicto entre Ucrania y Rusia en la esfera mediática: un análisis semántico de los títulos y comentarios de los vídeos del movimiento preparacionista en YouTube

Meso Ayerdi,

Peña Alonso,

Pérez Dasilva

et al. 2024

analisi

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

El preparacionismo es un movimiento formado por personas que toman medidas para afrontar situaciones adversas como pandemias, apagones generales, el colapso económico o el cambio climático, entre otras. Si bien sus orígenes están relacionados con la Guerra Fría, su popularidad creció tras los ataques a las Torres Gemelas del 11 de septiembre del 2001. La COVID-19 y el reciente conflicto armado entre Ucrania y Rusia son las últimas amenazas que se añaden a la lista de preocupaciones de este colectivo. La presente investigación estudia las temáticas que aparecen en los vídeos publicados por la comunidad preparacionista en YouTube y analiza si la invasión de Ucrania ha pasado a formar parte de los acontecimientos que inquietan a dicho grupo. La captura de los datos y su visualización se han realizado mediante las herramientas YouTube DataTools y Gephi. Ello ha permitido representar la red de temas presente en los vídeos e identificar los nodos con mayor posición de autoridad en lo que se refiere a la propagación de la información sobre preparacionismo. Las conclusiones indican que el enfrentamiento militar entre Ucrania y Rusia — esta última, potencia nuclear— se ha convertido en materia privilegiada y ha desplazado al resto de asuntos tratados en los vídeos publicados antes del conflicto. Por lo que respecta a quienes lideran el discurso en la plataforma, se observa una presencia de perfiles ideológicos dispares. Unos, cercanos a contenidos propios de políticas de derecha, relacionados con la hegemonía blanca, las armas y diversas teorías conspiratorias, y otros, de carácter menos politizado y lúdico.

show abstract

“…During the COVID-19 outbreak, conspiracy theories were amplified on a global scale. For instance, social media (Röchert et al, 2022;Su et al, 2021) and television broadcasting (Romer & Jamieson, 2020) have negatively influenced management of the pandemic and vaccination campaigns. They can affect the preventive strategies designed to fight against the spread of the disease (Marinthe et al, 2020;Seddig et al, 2022).…”

Section: Social Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Technologies and COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance

Wamba,

Guthrie,

Queiroz

et al. 2023

Journal of Global Information Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In light of the controversies surrounding COVID-19 vaccines, this study explored vaccine adoption through a theoretical model, focusing on France (n=2001) and South Africa (n=1107). Analysis using structural equation modelling and hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that social influences, personal opinions on vaccines, perceived severity of the pandemic, and perceived benefits of vaccination were primary drivers of adoption in both countries. Belief in conspiracy theories and perceptions of social distancing and stay-at-home measures had no influence on acceptance. Trust significantly influenced adoption intentions only in South Africa. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct opinion groups—“enthusiasts,” “doubters,” “followers,” and “conspirationists”—each preferring different health information sources and technologies, with a common preference for traditional media over social media. These findings have implications for developing targeted health policies, communication, and trust-building strategies.

show abstract

Caught in a networked collusion? Homogeneity in conspiracy-related discussion networks on YouTube

Cited by 19 publications

References 57 publications

Conspiracy Theories and White Supremacy on YouTube: Exploring Affiliation and Legitimation Strategies in YouTube Comments

Conspiracy Theories and White Supremacy on YouTube: Exploring Affiliation and Legitimation Strategies in YouTube Comments

El conflicto entre Ucrania y Rusia en la esfera mediática: un análisis semántico de los títulos y comentarios de los vídeos del movimiento preparacionista en YouTube

Digital Technologies and COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About