Abstract
Abstract When addressing public concerns such as the existence of politically like-minded communication spaces in social media, analyses of complex political discourses are met with increasing methodological challenges to process communication data properly. To address the extent of political like-mindedness in online communication, we argue that it is necessary to focus not only on ideological homogeneity in online environments, but also on the extent to which specific political questions are discussed in a uniform manner. This study proposes an innovative combination of computational methods, including natural language processing and social network analysis, that serves as a model for future research examining the evolution of opinion climates in online networks. Data were gathered on YouTube, enabling the assessment of users’ expressed opinions on three political issues (i.e., adoption rights for same-sex couples, headscarf rights, and climate change). Challenging widely held assumptions on discursive homogeneity online, the results provide evidence for a moderate level of connections between dissimilar YouTube comments but few connections between agreeing comments. The findings are discussed in light of current computational communication research and the vigorous debate on the prevalence of like-mindedness in online networks.
Highlights
Political Homogeneity in Online Communication In many instances, it has been suggested that politically and civically relevant communication on social media can hold individual users captive in spaces in which they are exposed to political views that are in line with their pre-existing opinions (Boutyline & Willer, 2017; Sunstein, 2017)
This study has developed an approach to measure opinion-based homogeneity based on textual messages with sentiment analysis (SA) and social network analysis (SNA) techniques on the YouTube platform by evaluating three relevant and politically controversial topics
In contrast to ideological homophily, which is more suitable for the recognition of moral values and political identities, the present approach allows the investigation of dynamic opinion climates which can change in the course of political discourses
Summary
Political Homogeneity in Online Communication In many instances, it has been suggested that politically and civically relevant communication on social media can hold individual users captive in spaces in which they are exposed to political views that are in line with their pre-existing opinions (i.e., so-called “echo chambers”) (Boutyline & Willer, 2017; Sunstein, 2017). Initial evidence focusing on political homogeneity online showed that people are connected to like-minded users to a larger extent than to politically opposing users in the United States (e.g., Bond & Messing, 2015; Boutyline & Willer, 2017) This pattern can be explained by the notion of selective exposure (Colleoni, Rozza, & Arvidsson, 2014; Knobloch-Westerwick, 2014; Zillmann & Bryant, 1985): People experience positive emotions when consuming information that conforms to their pre-existing views and feel stressed when the information contradicts their views. It seems worthwhile to ask to what extent users are exposed to and in contact with opinions they disagree with
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