Browsing by Subject "polarization"
Now showing items 1-8 of 8
-
Polarization as issue alignment in the case of climate change and Covid-19 : A Network Perspective (2023)Political polarization has become a global phenomenon, affecting democratic societies in various ways. In Finland, political issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change have sparked intense debates on social media platforms like Twitter, leading to the formation of seemingly diverse online communities with differing opinions. This study utilizes network analysis to investigate political polarization in Finland by examining issue alignment and levels of polarization regarding Covid-19 and climate change on Twitter. Studying issue alignment as an aspect of political polarization is particularly important, because overlapping polarization in many different political issues has been found to be particularly dangerous for the stability of society. Using a sample of Finnish Twitter users and their interactions between January 2019 and October 2022, this study analyzes the structure of Covid-19 and climate change networks and identifies groups with similar opinions. Normalized mutual information is used to measure issue alignment, while the EI-index is used to measure within-topic polarization. The results suggest that issue alignment between Covid-19 and climate change discussions is not particularly high in Finland. However, within-topic polarization is present with users interacting more with a like-minded in-group than with a dissenting out-group in both topics. This study provides valuable insights into the nature of political polarization in Finland, highlighting the role of social media polarization in shaping public opinion and contributing to interaction patterns. By understanding the mechanisms behind polarization, policymakers and other stakeholders can better address these challenges and promote constructive dialogue on these important issues.
-
Polarization as issue alignment in the case of climate change and Covid-19 : A Network Perspective (2023)Political polarization has become a global phenomenon, affecting democratic societies in various ways. In Finland, political issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change have sparked intense debates on social media platforms like Twitter, leading to the formation of seemingly diverse online communities with differing opinions. This study utilizes network analysis to investigate political polarization in Finland by examining issue alignment and levels of polarization regarding Covid-19 and climate change on Twitter. Studying issue alignment as an aspect of political polarization is particularly important, because overlapping polarization in many different political issues has been found to be particularly dangerous for the stability of society. Using a sample of Finnish Twitter users and their interactions between January 2019 and October 2022, this study analyzes the structure of Covid-19 and climate change networks and identifies groups with similar opinions. Normalized mutual information is used to measure issue alignment, while the EI-index is used to measure within-topic polarization. The results suggest that issue alignment between Covid-19 and climate change discussions is not particularly high in Finland. However, within-topic polarization is present with users interacting more with a like-minded in-group than with a dissenting out-group in both topics. This study provides valuable insights into the nature of political polarization in Finland, highlighting the role of social media polarization in shaping public opinion and contributing to interaction patterns. By understanding the mechanisms behind polarization, policymakers and other stakeholders can better address these challenges and promote constructive dialogue on these important issues.
-
(2023)Online disinformation has been identified internationally as a concerning phenomenon due to its potential effects on communication, democracy, and the very conceptions of truth and reality. This thesis aims to examine the question of what factors may make societies resilient to disinformation. Based on the theoretical framework originally outlined in Humprecht et al.’s (2020) cross-country ranking of 18 Western democracies, this thesis analyzes how structural environmental factors at the country level may strengthen resilience to online disinformation in two countries: Finland and Poland. Based on longitudinal mixed methods analyses informed by international indices, reports, and national scholarship, this thesis analyzes the political, media, and economic environments of Finland and Poland to consider how these environments—colored by cultural, historical, and societal contexts—may contribute to each country’s respective resilience to disinformation. This within-case analysis shows the challenges of quantifying and ranking resilience to disinformation and to develop the theoretical framework further. While Finland has historically been found to perform well in resilience studies, its examination alongside the Polish case demonstrates the necessity of nuancing each factor, informed by questioning what each factor actually entails as well as the impact of country contexts. Indicators such as populist communication, public service media, and trust in news were revealed to be more complex than originally outlined in the framework when applied to two different country contexts. This thesis also identified two novel additions to further contribute to the framework: journalistic standards, roles, and ethics and media literacy. By proposing additions to the framework and critically discussing the interactions between factors, this thesis also identifies key areas of future research to contribute to the field of disinformation studies.
-
(2023)Online disinformation has been identified internationally as a concerning phenomenon due to its potential effects on communication, democracy, and the very conceptions of truth and reality. This thesis aims to examine the question of what factors may make societies resilient to disinformation. Based on the theoretical framework originally outlined in Humprecht et al.’s (2020) cross-country ranking of 18 Western democracies, this thesis analyzes how structural environmental factors at the country level may strengthen resilience to online disinformation in two countries: Finland and Poland. Based on longitudinal mixed methods analyses informed by international indices, reports, and national scholarship, this thesis analyzes the political, media, and economic environments of Finland and Poland to consider how these environments—colored by cultural, historical, and societal contexts—may contribute to each country’s respective resilience to disinformation. This within-case analysis shows the challenges of quantifying and ranking resilience to disinformation and to develop the theoretical framework further. While Finland has historically been found to perform well in resilience studies, its examination alongside the Polish case demonstrates the necessity of nuancing each factor, informed by questioning what each factor actually entails as well as the impact of country contexts. Indicators such as populist communication, public service media, and trust in news were revealed to be more complex than originally outlined in the framework when applied to two different country contexts. This thesis also identified two novel additions to further contribute to the framework: journalistic standards, roles, and ethics and media literacy. By proposing additions to the framework and critically discussing the interactions between factors, this thesis also identifies key areas of future research to contribute to the field of disinformation studies.
-
(2023)This study aims to map out how harm is socially represented in Facebook Watch videos with trigger warnings. In contemporary times, psychological terms have become increasingly popular in laypeople’s use. Although the transmission of scientific knowledge to common sense is not a new phenomenon, it has been expediated by the popularity of social media. Consequently, a new understanding of clinical terms, such as trauma and trigger warnings, are reflected in everyday practices, meaning making and communication between people. Historically, trauma was a physical injury, yet diagnostic manuals and shared understanding have shifted toward including psychological and emotional harm as bases of traumatic experiences. Likewise, trigger warnings have spilled from therapy to become a safeguarding practice in a variety of new settings. The thesis is situated primarily within Serge Moscovici’s social representations theory, which is well-geared to examine laypeople’s conceptualization of social phenomena and understand how scientific knowledge becomes a part of common-sense practices. The theory of concept creep by Nick Haslam, and clinical knowledge is applied as a secondary paradigm. The research question is: How is harm socially represented in Facebook Watch videos with trigger warnings? In total, 87 videos were collected from Facebook Watch service to assess how trigger warnings cue the risk of harm and how harmful content is understood. Videos were watched, evaluated, and analyzed through Braun and Clarke’s 6-phase reflexive thematic analysis. Further steps were taken to assess visual, sonic, and affective features to comprehend how the entirety of the content signified harm. As a result of the reflexive thematic analysis, the study identified four main themes for social representations of harm: Clinical reminders, Collision of values, Ambiguous entertainment value, and Collectively unsettling to the society. The results suggest that conceptualizing harm has moved from clinical understanding to subjective perceptions of trauma and harm. Social representations of harm were consistent with recent literature exemplifying the inflated harm concept. Harm was represented as ideas, opinions, values, theories, expressions, critiques, and images which go beyond graphic content. Although a large portion of the data (n=48) exemplified trigger warnings as a safeguarding practice based on clinical triggers or concerns for immature viewers, harm was occasionally portrayed as opposing value systems and polarization. Facebook Watch was found to constitute a powerful shared universe for social actors to create and share social representations of harm through videos, which are potentially affective, persuasive, and occasionally extreme. With the guidance of social representations theory and thematic analysis, the thesis demonstrates the practice of trigger warnings and how harm is socially represented in social media videos. The results indicate that further research efforts should focus on assessing and creating guidelines for safe and inclusive social media platforms for trauma and non-trauma background users. Current guidelines lack specificity and do not provide uniform recommendations for navigating harmful online content. Additionally, the study identifies the conceptualization of harm as a more inclusive and broad practice than outlined in clinical manuals, which ideally should be reflected in more comprehensive social media regulations to meet the users’ needs. Lastly, the study offers foundations and suggestions for further social psychological studies on harm through various methods.
-
(2023)This study aims to map out how harm is socially represented in Facebook Watch videos with trigger warnings. In contemporary times, psychological terms have become increasingly popular in laypeople’s use. Although the transmission of scientific knowledge to common sense is not a new phenomenon, it has been expediated by the popularity of social media. Consequently, a new understanding of clinical terms, such as trauma and trigger warnings, are reflected in everyday practices, meaning making and communication between people. Historically, trauma was a physical injury, yet diagnostic manuals and shared understanding have shifted toward including psychological and emotional harm as bases of traumatic experiences. Likewise, trigger warnings have spilled from therapy to become a safeguarding practice in a variety of new settings. The thesis is situated primarily within Serge Moscovici’s social representations theory, which is well-geared to examine laypeople’s conceptualization of social phenomena and understand how scientific knowledge becomes a part of common-sense practices. The theory of concept creep by Nick Haslam, and clinical knowledge is applied as a secondary paradigm. The research question is: How is harm socially represented in Facebook Watch videos with trigger warnings? In total, 87 videos were collected from Facebook Watch service to assess how trigger warnings cue the risk of harm and how harmful content is understood. Videos were watched, evaluated, and analyzed through Braun and Clarke’s 6-phase reflexive thematic analysis. Further steps were taken to assess visual, sonic, and affective features to comprehend how the entirety of the content signified harm. As a result of the reflexive thematic analysis, the study identified four main themes for social representations of harm: Clinical reminders, Collision of values, Ambiguous entertainment value, and Collectively unsettling to the society. The results suggest that conceptualizing harm has moved from clinical understanding to subjective perceptions of trauma and harm. Social representations of harm were consistent with recent literature exemplifying the inflated harm concept. Harm was represented as ideas, opinions, values, theories, expressions, critiques, and images which go beyond graphic content. Although a large portion of the data (n=48) exemplified trigger warnings as a safeguarding practice based on clinical triggers or concerns for immature viewers, harm was occasionally portrayed as opposing value systems and polarization. Facebook Watch was found to constitute a powerful shared universe for social actors to create and share social representations of harm through videos, which are potentially affective, persuasive, and occasionally extreme. With the guidance of social representations theory and thematic analysis, the thesis demonstrates the practice of trigger warnings and how harm is socially represented in social media videos. The results indicate that further research efforts should focus on assessing and creating guidelines for safe and inclusive social media platforms for trauma and non-trauma background users. Current guidelines lack specificity and do not provide uniform recommendations for navigating harmful online content. Additionally, the study identifies the conceptualization of harm as a more inclusive and broad practice than outlined in clinical manuals, which ideally should be reflected in more comprehensive social media regulations to meet the users’ needs. Lastly, the study offers foundations and suggestions for further social psychological studies on harm through various methods.
-
(2020)American political culture has become increasingly polarized from the 1970s onwards. Among the many factors that have contributed to the rise of behavioral polarization between Democrats and Republicans is the emergence of partisan media. In this thesis, I compare the coverage of American liberal and conservative media of two political #MeToo scandals in the autumn of 2017: those of Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Al Franken. I conduct a quantitative and qualitative frame analysis of online media articles by CNN, Fox News, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal from the first three days of each scandal. I find that liberal and conservative media differ in their coverage of the two events. First, they show differences in how they frame sexual harassment scandals. Second, the partisan leanings of the politicians seem to affect framing decisions and the volume of reporting. My findings are in line with recent research on behavioral polarization, and how partisan strength and disdain towards the opposing party may rise within a nation. Since partisan media tend to skew news topics to be more favorable to their own political leaning, people who subscribe to liberal outlets may form a very different understanding of political issues compared to those who follow conservative media.
-
(2020)American political culture has become increasingly polarized from the 1970s onwards. Among the many factors that have contributed to the rise of behavioral polarization between Democrats and Republicans is the emergence of partisan media. In this thesis, I compare the coverage of American liberal and conservative media of two political #MeToo scandals in the autumn of 2017: those of Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Al Franken. I conduct a quantitative and qualitative frame analysis of online media articles by CNN, Fox News, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal from the first three days of each scandal. I find that liberal and conservative media differ in their coverage of the two events. First, they show differences in how they frame sexual harassment scandals. Second, the partisan leanings of the politicians seem to affect framing decisions and the volume of reporting. My findings are in line with recent research on behavioral polarization, and how partisan strength and disdain towards the opposing party may rise within a nation. Since partisan media tend to skew news topics to be more favorable to their own political leaning, people who subscribe to liberal outlets may form a very different understanding of political issues compared to those who follow conservative media.
Now showing items 1-8 of 8