Barbera summary
This paper analyzes the role of peripheral online participants during protest movements. The authors examine Twitter communication networks during 3 different protests:
- 2013 Gezi Park protests in Turkey
- 2012 Occupy movement
- 2012 Spanish Indignados movement
They also analyze 2 non-protest Twitter networks for comparison:
- 2014 Academy Awards
- 2014 Minimum wage debates in the US
The authors are interested in understanding the contribution of peripheral users - those who are less active or committed - compared to the core protest participants. They utilize k-core decomposition to identify core and peripheral users based on their position in the retweet networks.
Key Findings:
- Peripheral users had similar audience reach (number of followers) as core users, but were less active in posting protest-related tweets individually.
- However, due to their large numbers, peripheral users contributed as much total activity (tweets) as core users and expanded the audience reach of protest messages.
- Removal of outer k-cores in the protest networks decreased reach by ~50% but had less effect on total activity level. This suggests the periphery increased the core's audience.
- In non-protest networks, the core and periphery contributed more equally to activity and reach.
- The critical periphery seems especially important for amplification during protests compared to non-protest events.
In summary, the authors find that despite low individual activity, peripheral users as a collective contribute valuable resources for spreading protest messages and reaching a wider audience. This highlights the importance of the periphery in propelling protest visibility, even if they are less committed than core activists.
Table of Key Questions and Answers:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What was the purpose of this study? | To analyze the role and importance of peripheral online participants compared to core users during protest movements. |
| How were core and peripheral users defined? | Using k-core decomposition on retweet networks to identify core position versus peripheral shells. |
| How did core and peripheral users differ? | Peripheral users had lower individual activity but much greater aggregate activity and reach due to larger numbers. |
| What was the main finding? | Despite having low individual impact, peripheral users as a collective contribute as much or more than core users for spreading protest messages and expanding audience reach. |
| How were protest and non-protest networks compared? | The critical periphery was more important for audience amplification in protest versus non-protest networks. |
| What is the significance of the findings? | The large periphery of low-activity users plays a critical role in propelling protest visibility through their collective reach and activity. |