The Spatial Structures in the Austrian COVID-19 Protest Movement: A Virtual and Geospatial Twitter User Network Analysis

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kanilmaz, Umut Nefta, Resch, Bernd, Holzinger, Roland, Wasner, Christian, Steinmaurer, Thomas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Kanilmaz, Umut Nefta
Resch, Bernd
Holzinger, Roland
Wasner, Christian
Steinmaurer, Thomas
author_facet Kanilmaz, Umut Nefta
Resch, Bernd
Holzinger, Roland
Wasner, Christian
Steinmaurer, Thomas
contents The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by policy measures to combat the virus, evoked public protest movements world-wide. These movements emerged through virtual social networks as well as local protest gatherings. Prior research has studied such movements solely in the virtual space through social network analysis, thereby disregarding the role of local interaction for protest. This study, however, recognizes the importance of the geo-spatial dimension in protest movements. We therefore introduce a large-scale spatial-social network analysis of a georeferenced Twitter user network to understand the regional connections and transnational influences of the Austrian COVID-19 protest movement through the social network. Our findings reveal that the virtual network is distinctly structured along geographic and linguistic boundaries. We further find that the movement is clearly organized along national protest communities. These results highlight the importance of regional and local influencing factors over the impact of transnational influences for the protest movement.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_04942
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Spatial Structures in the Austrian COVID-19 Protest Movement: A Virtual and Geospatial Twitter User Network Analysis
Kanilmaz, Umut Nefta
Resch, Bernd
Holzinger, Roland
Wasner, Christian
Steinmaurer, Thomas
Social and Information Networks
Physics and Society
Applications
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by policy measures to combat the virus, evoked public protest movements world-wide. These movements emerged through virtual social networks as well as local protest gatherings. Prior research has studied such movements solely in the virtual space through social network analysis, thereby disregarding the role of local interaction for protest. This study, however, recognizes the importance of the geo-spatial dimension in protest movements. We therefore introduce a large-scale spatial-social network analysis of a georeferenced Twitter user network to understand the regional connections and transnational influences of the Austrian COVID-19 protest movement through the social network. Our findings reveal that the virtual network is distinctly structured along geographic and linguistic boundaries. We further find that the movement is clearly organized along national protest communities. These results highlight the importance of regional and local influencing factors over the impact of transnational influences for the protest movement.
title The Spatial Structures in the Austrian COVID-19 Protest Movement: A Virtual and Geospatial Twitter User Network Analysis
topic Social and Information Networks
Physics and Society
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.04942