Reclaim the Beach: How Offline Events Shape Online Interactions and Networks Amongst Those Who Support and Oppose Right-Wing Protest

Emma F. Thomas; Nathan Leggett; David Kernot; Lewis Mitchell; Saranzaya Magsarjav; Nathan Weber

doi:10.1080/1057610X.2022.2034222

Reclaim the Beach: How Offline Events Shape Online Interactions and Networks Amongst Those Who Support and Oppose Right-Wing Protest

Emma F. Thomas, Nathan Leggett, David Kernot, Lewis Mitchell, Saranzaya Magsarjav, Nathan Weber

College of Education, Psychology and Social Work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper we examine how offline protests attended by members of the Australian far-right shape online interactions. Tweets about the 2019 St Kilda beach rally were collected. Users were manually classified as supporters (n = 104) or opponents of the rally (n = 872). Network analysis demonstrated that interactions between the two groups increased at the time of the rally. Natural language processing showed that both groups became angrier and used more “othering” language during the rally. However, there were stark differences in the moral worldviews, highlighting the very different moral positions that underpin engagement with, and opposition to, the far-right agenda.

Original language	English
Number of pages	23
Journal	Studies in Conflict and Terrorism
Early online date	13 Mar 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2022.2034222
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 13 Mar 2022

Keywords

Online interactions
Right-wing extremism
Social media

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1080/1057610X.2022.2034222Licence: In Copyright

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abstract = "In this paper we examine how offline protests attended by members of the Australian far-right shape online interactions. Tweets about the 2019 St Kilda beach rally were collected. Users were manually classified as supporters (n = 104) or opponents of the rally (n = 872). Network analysis demonstrated that interactions between the two groups increased at the time of the rally. Natural language processing showed that both groups became angrier and used more “othering” language during the rally. However, there were stark differences in the moral worldviews, highlighting the very different moral positions that underpin engagement with, and opposition to, the far-right agenda.",

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AU - Mitchell, Lewis

AU - Magsarjav, Saranzaya

AU - Weber, Nathan

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AB - In this paper we examine how offline protests attended by members of the Australian far-right shape online interactions. Tweets about the 2019 St Kilda beach rally were collected. Users were manually classified as supporters (n = 104) or opponents of the rally (n = 872). Network analysis demonstrated that interactions between the two groups increased at the time of the rally. Natural language processing showed that both groups became angrier and used more “othering” language during the rally. However, there were stark differences in the moral worldviews, highlighting the very different moral positions that underpin engagement with, and opposition to, the far-right agenda.

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ER -

Reclaim the Beach: How Offline Events Shape Online Interactions and Networks Amongst Those Who Support and Oppose Right-Wing Protest

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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