COVID-19 and social media: Beyond polarization

TL;DR

This paper analyzes Twitter data to reveal the structure of online discourse during COVID-19, showing the existence of echo chambers, diverse beliefs, and the influential role of moderate users in polarization dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a network-based latent space model to study the behavior of popular users discussing COVID-19, highlighting the spectrum of beliefs beyond simple polarization.

Findings

Two distinct communities corresponding to pro and anti vaccine groups

Presence of a spectrum of beliefs with moderate users acting as key connectors

Echo chambers are prevalent but not the only feature of the network

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought upon a massive wave of disinformation, exacerbating polarization in the increasingly divided landscape of online discourse. In this context, popular social media users play a major role, as they have the ability to broadcast messages to large audiences and influence public opinion. In this paper, we make use of openly available data to study the behavior of popular users discussing the pandemic on Twitter. We tackle the issue from a network perspective, considering users as nodes and following relationships as directed edges. The resulting network structure is modeled by embedding the actors in a latent social space, where users closer to one another have a higher probability of following each other. The results suggest the existence of two distinct communities, which can be interpreted as "generally pro" and "generally against" vaccine mandates, corroborating existing evidence on the pervasiveness of echo chambers on the platform. By focusing on a number of notable users, such as politicians, activists, and news outlets, we further show that the two groups are not entirely homogeneous, and that not just the two poles are represented. To the contrary, the latent space captures an entire spectrum of beliefs between the two extremes, demonstrating that polarization, while present, is not the only driver of the network, and that more moderate, "central" users are key players in the discussion.