Withdrawal to the shadows: dark social media as opportunity structures for extremism

Dark social media has been described as a home base for extremists and a breeding ground for dark participation. Beyond the description of single cases, it often remains unclear what exactly is meant by dark social media and which opportunity structures for extremism emerge on these applications. The current paper contributes to filling this gap. We present a theoretical framework conceptualizing dark social media as opportunity structures shaped by (a) regulation on the macro-level; (b) different genres and types of (dark) social media as influence factors on the meso level; and (c) individual attitudes, salient norms, and technological affordances on the micro-level. The results of a platform analysis and a scoping review identified meaningful differences between dark social media of different types. Particularly social counter-media and fringe communities positioned themselves as "safe havens" for dark participation, indicating a high tolerance for accordant content. This makes them a fertile ground for those spreading extremist worldviews, consuming such content, or engaging in dark participation. Context-bound alternative social media were comparable to mainstream social media but oriented towards different legal spaces and were more intertwined with governments in China and Russia. Private-first channels such as Instant messengers were rooted in private communication. Yet, particularly Telegram also included far-reaching public communication formats and optimal opportunities for the convergence of mass, group, and interpersonal communication. Overall, we show that a closer examination of different types and genres of social media provides a more nuanced understanding of shifting opportunity structures for extremism in the digital realm

The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum

Participatory formats in online journalism offer increased options for user comments to reach a mass audience, also enabling the spreading of incivility. As a result, journalists feel the need to moderate offensive user comments in order to prevent the derailment of discussion threads. However, little is known about the principles on which forum moderation is based. The current study aims to fill this void by examining 673,361 user comments (including all incoming and rejected comments) of the largest newspaper forum in Germany (Spiegel Online) in terms of the moderation decision, the topic addressed, and the use of insulting language using automated content analysis. The analyses revealed that the deletion of user comments is a frequently used moderation strategy. Overall, more than one-third of comments studied were rejected. Further, users mostly engaged with political topics. The usage of swear words was not a reason to block a comment, except when offenses were used in connection with politically sensitive topics. We discuss the results in light of the necessity for journalists to establish consistent and transparent moderation strategies

A Computational Approach to Analyzing the Twitter Debate on Gaming Disorder

The recognition of excessive forms of media entertainment use (such as uncontrolled video gaming or the use of social networking sites) as a disorder is a topic widely discussed among scientists and therapists, but also among politicians, journalists, users, and the industry. In 2018, when the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to include the addictive use of digital games (gaming disorder) as a diagnosis in the International Classification of Diseases, the debate reached a new peak. In the current article, we aim to provide insights into the public debate on gaming disorder by examining data from Twitter for 11 months prior to and 8 months after the WHO decision, analyzing the (change in) topics, actors, and sentiment over time. Automated content analysis revealed that the debate is organic and not driven by spam accounts or other overly active ‘power users.’ The WHO announcement had a major impact on the debate, moving it away from the topics of parenting and child welfare, largely by activating actors from gaming culture. The WHO decision also resulted in a major backlash, increasing negative sentiments within the debate

Rückzug in die Schatten? Die Verlagerung digitaler Foren zwischen Fringe Communities und "Dark Social" und ihre Implikationen für die Extremismusprävention

Extremist:innen greifen zunehmend auf dunkle sozialen Medien zurück. Der Begriff der dunklen sozialen Medien umfasst verschiedene Typen alternativer Sozialer Medien (soziale Kontermedien wie Gab, kontextgebundene alternative Soziale Medien wie VKontakte, Fringe Communities wie 4Chan), ebenso wie verschiedene Typen dunkler Kanäle (ursprünglich private Kanäle wie Telegram und Separée-Kanäle wie geschloßene Facebook-Gruppen). Das vorliegende Gutachten beleuchtet die Gelegenheitsstrukturen für Extremismus und Extremismusprävention, die sich durch die Verlagerung hin zu dunklen Sozialen Medien ergeben. Hierfür werden in einem theoretischen Rahmenmodel Einflussfaktoren auf drei Ebenen verknüpft: (1) Regulierung (etwa durch das NetzDG) auf der gesellschaftlichen Makro-Ebene. (2) Verschiedene Genres und Typen (dunkler) sozialer Medien auf der Meso-Ebene einzelner Angebote. (3) Einstellungen, Normen und technische Affordanzen als Motivatoren menschlichen Verhaltens im Sinne der Theorie des geplanten Verhaltens (Ajzen und Fishbein, 1977) auf der Mikro-Ebene. Basierend auf diesem Rahmenmodel werden die Gelegenheitsstrukturen für Extremismus und Extremismusprävention mit Hilfe zweier Studien untersucht: (1) Einer detaillierten Plattformanalyse dunkler und etablierter Sozialer Medien (N = 19 Plattformen). (2) Eine Literaturanalyse (> ‚scoping review‘) des Forschungsstandes zu (dunklen) Sozialen Medien im Kontext von Extremismus und Extremismusprävention (N = 142 Texte). Die Ergebnisse der Platformanalyse ermöglichen nuancierte Einblicke in die Gelegenheitsstrukturen, die sich durch unterschiedliche Typen und Genres (dunkler) Sozialer Medien ergeben. Das Scoping Review bietet einen Überblick über die Entwicklung des Forschungsfeldes und die typischen Untersuchungsmethoden, die eingesetzt werden. Auf der Grundlage der erhobenen Daten werden Forschungsdesiderata und Implikationen für die Extremismusprävention diskutiert

Supplementary material to "A Computational Approach to Analyzing the Twitter Debate on Gaming Disorder"

This repository is the supplementary material for the paper "Schatto-Eckrodt, T., Janzik, R., Reer, F., Boberg, S., & Quandt, T. (2020). A Computational Approach to Analyzing the Twitter Debate on Gaming Disorder. Media and Communication, 8(3), 205–218. https://doi.org/10/gg7v84

The Challenges of Replicating Volatile Platform-Data Studies: Replicating Schatto-Eckrodt et al. (2020)

Replication studies in computational communication science (CCS) play a vital role in upholding research validity, ensuring reliability, and promoting transparency. However, conducting such studies in CCS often proves challenging due to the data environments’ dynamic nature and the complexities surrounding data and software sharing. To shed light on these challenges, we examine the replication process with CCS studies by computationally reproducing and replicating Schatto-Eckrodt et al.’s (2020) computational analysis of the X (formerly Twitter) debate about the term “gaming disorder” being added to the International Classification of Diseases 11. Our results indicate a reproduction success rate of 88.46% of the original findings. Replicating the analysis presents several obstacles, particularly in data access and availability. Five years after the original data collection, we were able to recollect only 55.08% of the initial sample, primarily due to user and platform activities, including account deletions, user suspensions, and privacy settings. Our reproduction and replication efforts revealed intricate challenges in conducting CCS research, particularly concerning data access and third-party platforms. To enhance replication in CCS, we emphasize the crucial role of data sharing, increased transparency, extensive documentation, and regulatory processes. Thus, our analysis underscores replications’ critical role in enhancing CCS research validity and reliability