Retweet Networks
RoboDebt Study
The “furball” retweet network
The star-shaped, core-periphery network in this study showed an agonistic discursive-digital alliance among discourses often perceived as being polar opposites:
Diagrammatically represented as:
18C and Immigration Studies
18C retweet network
In a study investigating a binary setting, such as a referendum, things may look strikingly different. In the case of this research, which examined online debates about whether to keep or repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act in Australia, the same collectives as the ones seen in the RoboDebt study manifested through an antagonistic frontier:
Immigration retweet network
Similarly, discussions about the topic of immigration and asylum-seeking policies in Australia also manifested as a polarised network formation:
18C and Immigration network structures are diagrammatically represented as:
