论文标题
通过阴谋的途径:通过参与在线阴谋讨论的阴谋激进化的演变
Pathways through Conspiracy: The Evolution of Conspiracy Radicalization through Engagement in Online Conspiracy Discussions
论文作者
论文摘要
在线阴谋论(CT)讨论中,参与者的颠覆性离线动员强调了了解在线用户如何形成激进的阴谋信念的重要性。尽管先前的工作研究了加入在线CT讨论并提供阴谋信念的理论,但在用户加入CT讨论社区之后,我们对阴谋激进的发展方式几乎没有理解。在本文中,我们提供了在线CT讨论参与者中各种激进阶段的经验建模。为了解开阴谋参与与激进化的关系,我们首先通过阴谋参与途径来表征用户通过CT讨论的旅程。具体而言,通过通过1.69亿个贡献研究36K Reddit用户,我们发现了阴谋参与的四个不同的途径:稳定的高,增加,减少和稳定低。我们进一步模拟了以先前理论工作为指导的激进化的三个连续阶段。用户的特定子选集,即那些处于稳定高和增加阴谋参与途径的人群,通过各种激进阶段依次进步。相比之下,参与途径下降的用户显示出独特的行为:他们将其CT讨论限制在专业主题,参与多样化的讨论小组,并显示出与阴谋subreddits的一致性减少。通过检查脱离在线CT讨论的用户,本文提供了有关阴谋恢复过程的有希望的见解。
The disruptive offline mobilization of participants in online conspiracy theory (CT) discussions has highlighted the importance of understanding how online users may form radicalized conspiracy beliefs. While prior work researched the factors leading up to joining online CT discussions and provided theories of how conspiracy beliefs form, we have little understanding of how conspiracy radicalization evolves after users join CT discussion communities. In this paper, we provide the empirical modeling of various radicalization phases in online CT discussion participants. To unpack how conspiracy engagement is related to radicalization, we first characterize the users' journey through CT discussions via conspiracy engagement pathways. Specifically, by studying 36K Reddit users through their 169M contributions, we uncover four distinct pathways of conspiracy engagement: steady high, increasing, decreasing, and steady low. We further model three successive stages of radicalization guided by prior theoretical works. Specific sub-populations of users, namely those on steady high and increasing conspiracy engagement pathways, progress successively through various radicalization stages. In contrast, users on the decreasing engagement pathway show distinct behavior: they limit their CT discussions to specialized topics, participate in diverse discussion groups, and show reduced conformity with conspiracy subreddits. By examining users who disengage from online CT discussions, this paper provides promising insights about conspiracy recovery process.