Self-Similarity in Online Networks During Social Movements

TL;DR

This study reveals that social movements exhibit self-similar, scale-invariant interaction patterns during peak mobilization, suggesting a universal organizing principle for collective action on online platforms.

Contribution

It uncovers the emergence of self-similar network structures in diverse social movements, linking them to hyperbolic embedding and effective social distances.

Findings

Self-similar patterns appear at peak mobilization times across movements.

Modular-to-nested network transitions occur during critical points.

A latent metric structure supports hyperbolic embedding of social networks.

Abstract

Online platforms provide an infrastructure for social movements, leaving digital traces that can be modelled as networks to quantify how information, participation, and coordination emerge during episodes of collective action and evolve over time. In this work, we unveil the emergence of scale-invariant online interaction patterns in social movements through network analysis of three geographically and sociopolitically distinct massive mobilisation events. By constructing co-occurrence networks from Twitter (now X) hashtag data and applying a degree-thresholding renormalisation procedure, we demonstrate that these highly correlated social phenomena exhibit clear signatures of self-similarity at peak mobilisation times. These critical points are characterised by modular-to-nested transitions, both in the co-occurrence networks and the bi-partite ones, maxima in user participation, and clustering spectrum collapse across multiple network scales. Despite their geographical and sociopolitical diversity, all three movements display remarkably analogous self-similar properties. Furthermore, the results hint at the emergence of a latent metric structure that supports successful hyperbolic embedding, providing an estimate of effective social distance. Together, these findings suggest that self-similarity may constitute a universal organising principle of social movements during peak mobilisation phases, as it lays the groundwork for the rapid amplification of information across scales that is necessary for the successful coordination of collective action.