The Effect of Collective Attention on Controversial Debates on Social Media

TL;DR

This paper investigates how collective attention influences the structure and content of long-standing controversial debates on Twitter, revealing that increased attention correlates with greater polarization and uniform language use.

Contribution

It is the first study to analyze the dynamic evolution of polarized online debates at scale, linking attention spikes to structural and content changes.

Findings

Increased attention correlates with higher network polarization.

Attention spikes lead to more concentrated debate structures.

Lexicon usage becomes more uniform across users during high attention periods.

Abstract

We study the evolution of long-lived controversial debates as manifested on Twitter from 2011 to 2016. Specifically, we explore how the structure of interactions and content of discussion varies with the level of collective attention, as evidenced by the number of users discussing a topic. Spikes in the volume of users typically correspond to external events that increase the public attention on the topic -- as, for instance, discussions about `gun control' often erupt after a mass shooting. This work is the first to study the dynamic evolution of polarized online debates at such scale. By employing a wide array of network and content analysis measures, we find consistent evidence that increased collective attention is associated with increased network polarization and network concentration within each side of the debate; and overall more uniform lexicon usage across all users.