Before, during, and after protest events, platforms like Twitter are used by participants and observers to plan, inform, coordinate, and to advocate for their positions. Prior studies have shown that discourse in Twitter reflects the changing dynamic of the collective action movement and can be used as part of the gatekeeping process. The ability of users to use social media to shape and coordinate these protests using disinformation, bots, cyborgs and trolls is seen as a fundamental issue of our time, and is the subject of an emerging area of science referred to as social cybersecurity. In protest after protest, from the Arab Spring to the Occupy protests, social media has been an integral part of the protest story. Phrases such as “Twitter Revolutions” give voice to the role of these social media technologies in anti-government protests. Today when protests occur, they co-occur in the streets and on social media. With respect to collective action, social media in general, and Twitter in particular, plays a role as an organizing mechanism and as a reporting mechanism.
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In the case of Twitter, much of the attention from academics, politicians, pundits, news media, and the public has focused on issues of political, policy, and electoral discourse, crisis communications during natural disasters and other important events, and to the use of Twitter in relation to offline protests. It is important to understand how this all is accomplished, especially in periods leading up to important public decisions such as elections, or during emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Political campaigns, advocacy groups, and the public all use these platforms in parallel with traditional venues of TV, radio, print media, community and organization meetings, rallies, and protests to vie for attention and promote their views. Online social media platforms have proved to be powerful tools in the dissemination of information, expression of opinion, and in the shaping of public discourse. Our work provides insights into the organization of opposing sides of the Twitter debate and discussions over responses to the COVID-19 emergency and helps set the stage for further work in this area.
In contrast, the Anti-Protest side is more reactive, has a larger presence of verified account activity (both as actors and targets), and appears to have been more successful in spreading its message in terms of both tweet volume and in attracting more regular type users. We then compare the users in each group and their actions and find that the Pro-Protest side acts more proactively, is more centrally organized, engages with the opposing side less, and appears to rely more on bot-like or troll-like users. We find that these opposing groups mirror the partisan divide regarding the protests in their use of specific phrases and in their sharing of external links. Here, we analyze the Pro- and Anti-Protest sides of the Twitter discussion surrounding the first few weeks of the anti-lockdown protests in the United States. Special attention has been paid to the role these tools play in times of emergency and important public decision-making events such as during the current COVID-19 pandemic. 2021.Twitter and other social media platforms are important tools for competing groups to push their preferred messaging and respond to opposing views. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. Our work provides insights into the organization of opposing sides of the Twitter debate and discussions over responses to the COVID-19 emergency and helps set the stage for further work in this area.Ĭase study Protests Social network analysis Twitter. Twitter and other social media platforms are important tools for competing groups to push their preferred messaging and respond to opposing views.
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