Frozen discourse: how screenshots hinder depolarization on social media

Abstract

ABSTRACT Social media is thought to play a pivotal role in increasing animosity between opposing partisans, i.e., affective polarization. This study focuses on one context that is assumed to reduce polarization – an acute external threat – and demonstrates that even under such conditions, social media platforms perpetuate affective polarization. Furthermore, the research findings suggest a digital feature that might contribute to this process: screenshots. By conducting a case study and thematically analyzing 1,670 tweets discussing ‘inner unity’ posted in Israel during an escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the study shows that screen-captured images can be a barrier to the dynamic process required for depolarization, as they ‘freeze’ online discussions. Additionally, it reveals two content-related discoursal mechanisms involved in preserving polarization between rightist and leftist Jewish Israelis: recalling the ‘unified’ past and distorting the meaning of unity. I discuss the theoretical implications of the findings for the study of the relationship between online political discourse and (de)polarization.