Ideological Fragmentation of the Social Media Ecosystem: From echo chambers to echo platforms
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2024
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| _version_ | 1866913873632690176 |
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| author | Di Martino, Edoardo Galeazzi, Alessandro Starnini, Michele Quattrociocchi, Walter Cinelli, Matteo |
| author_facet | Di Martino, Edoardo Galeazzi, Alessandro Starnini, Michele Quattrociocchi, Walter Cinelli, Matteo |
| contents | The entertainment-driven nature of social media encourages users to engage with like-minded individuals and consume content aligned with their beliefs, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives. Simultaneously, users migrate between platforms, either due to moderation policies like de-platforming or in search of environments better suited to their preferences. These dynamics drive the specialization of the social media ecosystem, shifting from internal echo chambers to "echo platforms"--entire platforms functioning as ideologically homogeneous niches. To systematically analyze this phenomenon in political discussions, we propose a quantitative approach based on three key dimensions: platform centrality, news consumption, and user base composition. We analyze 117 million posts related to the 2020 US Presidential elections from nine social media platforms--Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, BitChute, Gab, Parler, Scored, and Voat. Our findings reveal significant differences among platforms in their centrality within the ecosystem, the reliability of circulated news, and the ideological diversity of their users, highlighting a clear divide between mainstream and alt-tech platforms. The latter occupy a peripheral role, feature a higher prevalence of unreliable content, and exhibit greater ideological uniformity. These results highlight the key dimensions shaping the fragmentation and polarization of the social media landscape. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_16826 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Ideological Fragmentation of the Social Media Ecosystem: From echo chambers to echo platforms Di Martino, Edoardo Galeazzi, Alessandro Starnini, Michele Quattrociocchi, Walter Cinelli, Matteo Computers and Society Social and Information Networks Physics and Society The entertainment-driven nature of social media encourages users to engage with like-minded individuals and consume content aligned with their beliefs, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives. Simultaneously, users migrate between platforms, either due to moderation policies like de-platforming or in search of environments better suited to their preferences. These dynamics drive the specialization of the social media ecosystem, shifting from internal echo chambers to "echo platforms"--entire platforms functioning as ideologically homogeneous niches. To systematically analyze this phenomenon in political discussions, we propose a quantitative approach based on three key dimensions: platform centrality, news consumption, and user base composition. We analyze 117 million posts related to the 2020 US Presidential elections from nine social media platforms--Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, BitChute, Gab, Parler, Scored, and Voat. Our findings reveal significant differences among platforms in their centrality within the ecosystem, the reliability of circulated news, and the ideological diversity of their users, highlighting a clear divide between mainstream and alt-tech platforms. The latter occupy a peripheral role, feature a higher prevalence of unreliable content, and exhibit greater ideological uniformity. These results highlight the key dimensions shaping the fragmentation and polarization of the social media landscape. |
| title | Ideological Fragmentation of the Social Media Ecosystem: From echo chambers to echo platforms |
| topic | Computers and Society Social and Information Networks Physics and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.16826 |