Narcotweets: Social Media in Wartime

TL;DR

This paper examines how citizens in conflict zones, specifically Mexico's Drug War, use social media as a participatory news platform, highlighting participation patterns, information curators, and tensions with authorities.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of social media use in wartime environments, focusing on citizen participation, information curation, and government versus cartel influence.

Findings

Citizens actively use Twitter for news and communication.

Information curators emerge as key actors in the social media landscape.

Tensions exist between government regulation and cartel intimidation.

Abstract

This paper describes how people living in armed conflict environments use social media as a participatory news platform, in lieu of damaged state and media apparatuses. We investigate this by analyzing the microblogging practices of Mexican citizens whose everyday life is affected by the Drug War. We provide a descriptive analysis of the phenomenon, combining content and quantitative Twitter data analyses. We focus on three interrelated phenomena: general participation patterns of ordinary citizens, the emergence and role of information curators, and the tension between governmental regulation and drug cartel intimidation. This study reveals the complex tensions among citizens, media actors, and the government in light of large scale organized crime.