Andrzej Pekalski networks of scientific interests with internal degrees of freedom through self-citation analysis

Old and recent theoretical works by Andrzej Pekalski (APE) are recalled as possible sources of interest for describing network formation and clustering in complex (scientific) communities, through self-organisation and percolation processes. Emphasis is placed on APE self-citation network over four decades. The method is that used for detecting scientists field mobility by focusing on author's self-citation, co-authorships and article topics networks as in [1,2]. It is shown that APE's self-citation patterns reveal important information on APE interest for research topics over time as well as APE engagement on different scientific topics and in different networks of collaboration. Its interesting complexity results from "degrees of freedom" and external fields leading to so called internal shock resistance. It is found that APE network of scientific interests belongs to independent clusters and occurs through rare or drastic events as in irreversible "preferential attachment processes", similar to those found in usual mechanics and thermodynamics phase transitions.Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, 44 references, submitted to Int J Mod Phys

Hashtag activism and the configuration of counterpublics: Dutch animal welfare debates on Twitter

Social media platforms provide major opportunities for online activism and the emergence of digital counterpublics. Research on counterpublics has focused on actors and their narrative strategies aiming at deconstructing dominant discourses. Less attention has been paid to how the interplay between actors and platform-specific functions affects the configurations and therewith also the success of digital counterpublics. Existing studies mainly rely on determining up front which topics, actor characteristics, or arguments constitute hashtag activism and digital counterpublics. In contrast, our approach allows for an empirical identification based on how actors position themselves in an online debate toward other actors and their shared hashtags. We argue that online activism is co-constituted by actors and their usage of hashtags, actor mentions, and retweets. Applying a communicative network perspective allows for the integration of semantic and relational research traditions. We combine a recently developed automated network analysis method and content analysis to analyze two Twitter debates about animal welfare issues. Our results show that among Twitter users, citizens and environmental organizations formed a common cluster whereas media actors formed their own sub-clusters in both debates. The findings emphasize the central role of citizens for the configuration of digital counterpublics. The proposed approach can be further adapted and applied more widely for the analysis of online activism and debates

Dynamics of Content Diversity within Issues, Across Platforms: A Pesticide Debate in the News and on Twitter

Diversity of represented viewpoints in media content is a vital aspect of democratic societies. Building on insights about content diversity between topics, this study assesses frame and actor diversity within an issue and across media platforms. We conducted a manual quantitative content analysis of frames and actors in Dutch Twitter posts (N = 2,224) and newspaper articles (N = 318) about the banned pesticide fipronil, and we compared categorical and relative diversity of frames and actors between platforms. The results revealed an overall higher diversity for newspaper articles compared with tweets. Most strikingly, the diversity dynamics were quite similar in newspaper content and Twitter messages, but this similarity vanished once we distinguished between diagnostic and prognostic actor and frame diversity, with news articles showing a greater focus on solutions. The proposed diversity measures help discern temporal stages within issues and contribute to our understanding of intraissue dynamics across media platforms

Evaluating social countermarketing success: Resonance of framing strategies in online food quality debates

Purpose Social countermarketing (SCM) aims at influencing existing socio-cultural norms, public policies or political decision-making. Existing empirical accounts of SCM give limited insights into their success. The authors analyze SCM strategies and their public resonance by studying the diagnostic and prognostic frames and responsibility attributions that are used in the debates. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on two online SCM campaigns in the Netherlands that are targeted against over-feeding of chickens for consumption and the selling of low-priced meat. The authors conducted a quantitative content analysis (N = 3,902) of these debates on Twitter for a two-year period (July 2015 to June 2017). Findings The results show that citizens play an important role for the amplification of SCM campaigns. Diagnostic and prognostic frames about meat selling practices are among the most popular ones while the importance of mobilization messages differs per case. This can be explained by the proximity of these frames to citizens' daily life experiences. Practical implications The apparent willingness of citizens to both tweet and retweet calls for mobilization might give messages by environmental NGOs third-party endorsement. This strengthens their position and visibility in the debates, which are both of strategic value. The analysis of actor responsibility can identify reputational risks for companies in contested industries such as mass meat production. Originality/value The findings enhance professional understanding of designing campaign messages and refine SCM success in terms of resonance, since resonance indicates amplification and third-party endorsement