气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Network analysis reveals open forums and echo chambers in social media discussions of climate change

CCPortal

DOI	10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.03.006
	Network analysis reveals open forums and echo chambers in social media discussions of climate change
	Williams H.T.P.; McMurray J.R.; Kurz T.; Hugo Lambert F.
发表日期	2015
ISSN	0959-3780
卷号	32
英文摘要	Action to tackle the complex and divisive issue of climate change will be strongly influenced by public perception. Online social media and associated social networks are an increasingly important forum for public debate and are known to influence individual attitudes and behaviours - yet online discussions and social networks related to climate change are not well understood. Here we construct several forms of social network for users communicating about climate change on the popular microblogging platform Twitter. We classify user attitudes to climate change based on message content and find that social networks are characterised by strong attitude-based homophily and segregation into polarised "sceptic" and "activist" groups. Most users interact only with like-minded others, in communities dominated by a single view. However, we also find mixed-attitude communities in which sceptics and activists frequently interact. Messages between like-minded users typically carry positive sentiment, while messages between sceptics and activists carry negative sentiment. We identify a number of general patterns in user behaviours relating to engagement with alternative views. Users who express negative sentiment are themselves the target of negativity. Users in mixed-attitude communities are less likely to hold a strongly polarised view, but more likely to express negative sentiment towards other users with differing views. Overall, social media discussions of climate change often occur within polarising "echo chambers", but also within "open forums", mixed-attitude communities that reduce polarisation and stimulate debate. Our results have implications for public engagement with this important global challenge. © 2015 The Authors.
英文关键词	Climate change; Echo chamber; Opinion leader; Polarisation; Social network analysis
学科领域	attitudinal survey; climate change; communication network; network analysis; perception; social network
语种	英语
scopus关键词	attitudinal survey; climate change; communication network; network analysis; perception; social network
来源期刊	Global Environmental Change
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/117520
作者单位	College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QE, United Kingdom; Department of Empirical Inference, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tuebingen, Germany; School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Washington Singer Laboratories, Exeter, EX4 4QG, United Kingdom; College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Harrison Building, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QF, United Kingdom
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Williams H.T.P.,McMurray J.R.,Kurz T.,et al. Network analysis reveals open forums and echo chambers in social media discussions of climate change[J],2015,32.
APA	Williams H.T.P.,McMurray J.R.,Kurz T.,&Hugo Lambert F..(2015).Network analysis reveals open forums and echo chambers in social media discussions of climate change.Global Environmental Change,32.
MLA	Williams H.T.P.,et al."Network analysis reveals open forums and echo chambers in social media discussions of climate change".Global Environmental Change 32(2015).