You Change the Way You Talk: Examining the network, toxicity and discourse of cross-platform users on Twitter and Parler during the 2020 US Presidential Election

This repository contains materials for the paper

Citation

@article{park2024you,
  title={You change the way you talk: Examining the network, toxicity and discourse of cross-platform users on Twitter and Parler during the 2020 US Presidential Election},
  author={Park, Jaihyun and Yang, JungHwan and Tolbert, Amanda and Bunsold, Katherine},
  journal={Journal of Information Science},
  pages={01655515241238405},
  year={2024},
  publisher={SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}
}

Abstract

This study examines code-switching behaviors of cross-platform social media users specifically between Twitter and Parler during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Utilizing social identity theory as a framework, we examine messages related to voter fraud by users who migrated from Twitter to Parler following Twitter bans. Our analysis covers 38,798 account active on both platforms, analyzing 1.5 million tweets and more than 100 thousand parleys. The key findings of the study are as follows: First we discovered differing levels of network homophily between high degree centrality and low degree centrality cross-platform users, illustrating how individuals with varying degrees of influence engage differently across platforms. Second, we observed higher toxicity levels in heterogenous networks, which include both in-group and out-group members, compared to homogeneous networks that are primarily composed of in-group members. This suggests the level of toxicity in online spaces correlates with the level of group diversity. Third, we found that cross-platform users created distinctive discourse community with in-group and out-group members, indicating that content and discussions within these networks are influenced by the social identity dynamics of the users. Our study contributes to the current research in political communication and information science by proposing comparative user analyses across multiple social media platforms. Focusing on a critical period of platform transition during a contentious political event, our study offers insights into the dynamics of online communities and the shifting nature of political language used by social media users.

RQ 1: How do cross-platform users form networks structure for in-group and out-group communication?

The code for this research question is available in the rq1.ipynb notebook.

RQ 2: Do the toxicity levels of conversation vary between interactions with in-group members and out-group members?

The code for this research question is available in the rq2.ipynb notebook.

RQ 3: Do cross-platform users share different information when they communicate with in-group members versus when they communicate with out-group members?

The code for this research question is available in the rq3.ipynb notebook.