TrollHunter2020: Real-Time Detection of Trolling Narratives on Twitter During the 2020 US Elections

TL;DR

TrollHunter2020 is a real-time detection system designed to identify emerging trolling narratives on Twitter during the 2020 US elections, aiming to prevent misinformation and promote constructive discourse.

Contribution

It introduces a novel real-time method using correspondence analysis to detect trolling narratives as they develop during rapidly evolving events.

Findings

Successfully detects early-stage trolling narratives

Captures relationships between key words in trolling narratives

Supports timely intervention to mitigate misinformation

Abstract

This paper presents TrollHunter2020, a real-time detection mechanism we used to hunt for trolling narratives on Twitter during the 2020 U.S. elections. Trolling narratives form on Twitter as alternative explanations of polarizing events like the 2020 U.S. elections with the goal to conduct information operations or provoke emotional response. Detecting trolling narratives thus is an imperative step to preserve constructive discourse on Twitter and remove an influx of misinformation. Using existing techniques, this takes time and a wealth of data, which, in a rapidly changing election cycle with high stakes, might not be available. To overcome this limitation, we developed TrollHunter2020 to hunt for trolls in real-time with several dozens of trending Twitter topics and hashtags corresponding to the candidates' debates, the election night, and the election aftermath. TrollHunter2020 collects trending data and utilizes a correspondence analysis to detect meaningful relationships between the top nouns and verbs used in constructing trolling narratives while they emerge on Twitter. Our results suggest that the TrollHunter2020 indeed captures the emerging trolling narratives in a very early stage of an unfolding polarizing event. We discuss the utility of TrollHunter2020 for early detection of information operations or trolling and the implications of its use in supporting a constrictive discourse on the platform around polarizing topics.