MPC Member Publications

This database contains a listing of population studies publications written by MPC Members. Anyone can add a publication by an MPC student, faculty, or staff member to this database; new citations will be reviewed and approved by MPC administrators.

Full Citation

Title: The Influence of Interdependence in Networked Publics Spheres: How Community-Level Interactions Affect the Evolution of Topics in Online Discourse

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2021

DOI: 10.1093/JCMC/ZMAB002

Abstract: Investigations of networked public spheres often examine the structures of online platforms by studying users' interactions. These works suggest that users' interactions can lead to cyberbalkani-zation when interlocutors form homophilous communities that typically have few connections to others with opposing ideologies. Yet, rather than assuming communities are isolated, this study examines community-level interactions to reveal how communities in online discourses are more interdependent than previously theorized. Specifically, we examine how such interactions influence the evolution of topics overtime in source and target communities. Our analysis found that (a) the size of a source community (the community that initiates interactions) and a target community (the community that receives interactions), (b) the stability of the source community, and (c) the volume of mentions from a source community to a target community predicts the level of influence one community has on another's discussion topics. We argue this has significant theoretical and practical implications. Lay Summary Political discussions online, especially those in the United States, seem to range between harmonious discussions of likeminded people and heated debates that end with few, if any, who have changed their minds. Researchers have often examined these balkanized/polarized situations by studying online communities as isolated echo chambers of opinion. Our study focuses on the interactions between online communities who have different worldviews. We examine communities engaged in the global refugee crisis. We consider how the inter-community interactions influence the agenda of the respective communities. Our longitudinal analysis on the one hand

Url: https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/26/3/148/6274960

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Yang, Aimei; Choi, Ian Myoungsu; Abeliuk, Andrés; Saffer, Adam J.

Periodical (Full): Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

Issue: 3

Volume: 26

Pages: 148-166

Countries:

IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop