Social media have been useful for both progressive social justice movements and far-right political interests. This study investigates whether political left groups are too fractured as social networks compared to the political right. We look to events from 2020 to find the answer, after three separate killings of black people occurred within months of each other in different cities across the U.S., including the shootings of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and the suffocation of George Floyd in Minneapolis. We created a set of Twitter data visualizations based on specified hashtags and words in tweets from Twitter during this time. From our analysis, the killings resonated broadly on Twitter, as a vast array of activity linked specific victims to the broader themes of social justice. What is not evident is whether certain social justice groups or accounts associated with the political left were particularly dominant within the network. There is also evidence that the political right was actively engaged in counterposing the themes of social justice on Twitter. While those on the political right may have been vastly outnumbered, the data suggested that they possess greater solidarity – as a political force – than those on the left.
Websites:
https://researchdirectory.uc.edu/p/blevinjy
https://jameslee.hcommons.org/
Twitter: @JeffBlevinsPhD, @JamesLeeUC
Dr. Jeffrey Layne Blevins (Ph.D., Ohio University) is a Professor in the Department of Journalism, and the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. James Jaehoon Lee (Ph.D., University of California, Berkley) is an Associate University Librarian for Academic Innovation, and an Associate Professor in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. Drs. Blevins and Lee are co-authors of Social Media, Social Justice, and the Political Economy of Online Networks (University of Cincinnati Press, 2022). https://ucincinnatipress.uc.edu/9781947602847/social-media-social-justice-and-the-political-economy-of-online-networks/
Website: https://www.ou.edu/gaylord/about/faculty-and-staff/xiaochen-angela-zhang
Xiaochen Angela Zhang (Ph.D., University of Florida) is an assistant professor in public relations in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on understanding how publics process crisis and risk information, how publics utilize social media to communicate during crises, how to increase individual and community resilience in crisis and risk contexts, and the ethical challenges of these areas. Angela received the 2022 Race in Public Relations Award for her research examining corporate diversity, equity and inclusion communication. Currently she is conducting research exploring interorganizational networks to improve disaster response and community resilience.
