Inside the echo chamber: Linguistic underpinnings of misinformation on Twitter

TL;DR

This study investigates how language features like group cues and readability differ within and across Twitter communities discussing misinformation, revealing increased group identity signals and fluency in echo chambers.

Contribution

It provides a linguistic analysis of misinformation discussions on Twitter, highlighting how language use varies in echo chambers and across topics, which was less explored before.

Findings

Increased group identity signals in echo chambers

Higher processing fluency within misinformation discussions

Variations in linguistic features across topics and communities

Abstract

Social media users drive the spread of misinformation online by sharing posts that include erroneous information or commenting on controversial topics with unsubstantiated arguments often in earnest. Work on echo chambers has suggested that users' perspectives are reinforced through repeated interactions with like-minded peers, promoted by homophily and bias in information diffusion. Building on long-standing interest in the social bases of language and linguistic underpinnings of social behavior, this work explores how conversations around misinformation are mediated through language use. We compare a number of linguistic measures, e.g., in-/out-group cues, readability, and discourse connectives, within and across topics of conversation and user communities. Our findings reveal increased presence of group identity signals and processing fluency within echo chambers during discussions of misinformation. We discuss the specific character of these broader trends across topics and examine contextual influences.