Partisan Asymmetries in Online Political Activity

TL;DR

This study analyzes Twitter data from 2010 to reveal significant partisan differences in online political activity, showing that right-leaning users are more active and have more interconnected social networks than left-leaning users.

Contribution

It provides a detailed characterization of partisan behaviors and social structures on Twitter, highlighting the changing dynamics of online political engagement between 2008 and 2010.

Findings

Right-leaning users are more politically active.

Right-leaning networks are more interconnected.

Communication networks enable rapid dissemination of information.

Abstract

We examine partisan differences in the behavior, communication patterns and social interactions of more than 18,000 politically-active Twitter users to produce evidence that points to changing levels of partisan engagement with the American online political landscape. Analysis of a network defined by the communication activity of these users in proximity to the 2010 midterm congressional elections reveals a highly segregated, well clustered partisan community structure. Using cluster membership as a high-fidelity (87% accuracy) proxy for political affiliation, we characterize a wide range of differences in the behavior, communication and social connectivity of left- and right-leaning Twitter users. We find that in contrast to the online political dynamics of the 2008 campaign, right-leaning Twitter users exhibit greater levels of political activity, a more tightly interconnected social structure, and a communication network topology that facilitates the rapid and broad dissemination of political information.