Bridging polarised Twitter discussions: the interactions of the users in the middle

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the interactions of bridging users in Twitter discussions about vaccination.

Design/methodology/approach

Conversational threads were collected through filtering the Twitter stream using keywords and the most active participants in the conversations. Following data collection and anonymisation of tweets and user profiles, a retweet network was created to find users bridging the main clusters. Four conversations were selected, ranging from 456 to 1,983 tweets long, and then analysed through content analysis.

Findings

Although different opinions met in the discussions, a consensus was rarely built. Many sub-threads involved insults and criticism, and participants seemed not interested in shifting their positions. However, examples of reasoned discussions were also found.

Originality/value

The study analyses conversations on Twitter, which is rarely studied. The focus on the interactions of bridging users adds to the uniqueness of the paper.

Citation

Lorentzen, D.G. (2021), "Bridging polarised Twitter discussions: the interactions of the users in the middle", Aslib Journal of Information Management, Vol. 73 No. 2, pp. 129-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-05-2020-0154