The net neutrality debate on Twitter

Schünemann, Wolf J.; Steiger, Stefan; Stier, Sebastian

doi:10.14763/2015.4.394

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…A temporal disaggregation might shed light on disagreements in earlier empirical research on the net neutrality debate. While one study found a limited equalisation of Twitter communication on the issue net neutrality (Schünemann et al, 2015), other research has argued for a decisive impact of online activists in this policy field (Faris et al, 2015). Yet both findings are not mutually exclusive.…”

Section: Policy Debates On Social Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Of activists and gatekeepers: Temporal and structural properties of policy networks on Twitter

Stier

Schünemann

Steiger

2017

New Media & Society

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There is an ongoing academic debate whether social media empowers activists and advocacy groups in relation to established political actors and media gatekeepers. This article investigates these premises by analysing the influence of various actors in two policy debates on Twitter, environmental policy (climate change) and Internet governance (net neutrality). We extract tweets on both topics and code the respective 500 most central accounts according to a categorisation of relevant political actor groups. Applying methods from social network analysis, we reveal temporally fluctuating actor constellations and network structures which converge to elite actors during high attention periods. Furthermore, a comparative keyword analysis shows that non-governmental organisations and citizen media emphasise personalised connective action frames, whereas political actors and traditional media tend to refer to the political decision-making process and its institutions. Both findings are in line with cyclical conceptions of policy processes.

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Section: Policy Debates On Social Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Of activists and gatekeepers: Temporal and structural properties of policy networks on Twitter

Stier

Schünemann

Steiger

2017

New Media & Society

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“…This involvement of online audiences in policy processes is not unique. An increasing number of case studies shows that online publics incidentally mobilize in relation to a range of policy agendas, be it internet regulations (Schünemann et al, 2015;Benkler et al, 2015), education policy (Supovitz et al, 2018;Schuster et al, 2021), climate change (Schünemann, 2020) or health policy (e.g. Bridge et al, 2021) among others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between left and right: A discourse network analysis of Universal Basic Income on Dutch Twitter

2023

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Universal Basic Income (UBI) found its way back to media and policy agendas, presented as an alternative to the social investment policies omnipresent in Europe. In spite of the apparent appeal, however, UBI faces a discursive and political stalemate that seems hard to overcome. In an attempt to understand this tension, we explore the discursive coalitions surrounding UBI in a debate on Dutch Twitter. We use discourse network analysis to (a) cluster discussants endorsing similar positions and (b) see which political elites endorse these positions. We find that the known schism between the liberal and egalitarian interpretations of UBI is driven by ambivalence towards its redistributive implications. Moreover, we observe a turn towards social investment frames amongst UBI advocates, who centrally argue that UBI is activating and deregulating social security. This change in framing, however, seems to have little visible impact on elite coalition formation. Green-left elites remain overrepresented amongst proponents, while liberal and conservatives are opposed, and the socialist party remains divided on the issue. Thus, while the implementation of a ‘full’ UBI seems blocked by redistributive concerns, the social investment turn may be the political compromise that explains the popular appeal and political success of UBI inspired experiments.

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“…Moreover, they can refer to a particular post another user has made by retweeting it. As done in a lot of other Twitter studies, we take both actions as user interactions (Schünemann, Steiger, & Stier, 2015). In contrast, cross-referential cohesion is not based on user interactions but topical references.…”

Section: Expectations Of International Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ready for the World? Measuring the (Trans-)National Quality of Political Issue Publics on Twitter

Schünemann

2020

MaC

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This article presents a multi-method research design for measuring the (trans-)national quality of issue publics on Twitter. Online communication is widely perceived as having the potential to overcome nationally bound public spheres. Social media, in particular, are seen as platforms and drivers of transnational communication through which users can easily connect across borders. Transnational interactivity can be expected in particular for policy fields of global concern and elite or activist communication as practiced on Twitter. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of evidence for the enduring national structuration of political communication and publics as it results from a shared language (mostly), culturally defined media markets, established routines of social and political communication, and sociocultural stocks of knowledge. The study goes beyond measuring user interaction and also includes indicators of cross-referential cohesion. It applies a set of computational methods in network and discourse analysis and presents empirical evidence for Twitter communication on climate change being a prime issue of global concern and a globalized policy agenda. For empirical analysis, the study relies on a large Twitter dataset (N ≈ 6m tweets) with tweet messages and metadata collected between 2015 and 2018. Based on basic measurements such as geolocation and language use, the metrics allowed measurement of cross-national user interactions, user centrality in communicative networks, linking behaviour, and hashtag co-occurrences. The findings of the exploratory study suggest that a combined perspective on indicators of user interaction and cross-referential cohesion helps to develop a better and more nuanced understanding of online issue publics.

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The net neutrality debate on Twitter

Cited by 6 publications

References 23 publications

Of activists and gatekeepers: Temporal and structural properties of policy networks on Twitter

Of activists and gatekeepers: Temporal and structural properties of policy networks on Twitter

Between left and right: A discourse network analysis of Universal Basic Income on Dutch Twitter

Ready for the World? Measuring the (Trans-)National Quality of Political Issue Publics on Twitter

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