Impact and dynamics of hate and counter speech online - EPJ Data Science
epjdatascience.springeropen.com
Citizen-generated counter speech is a promising way to fight hate speech and promote peaceful, non-polarized discourse. However, there is a lack of large-scale longitudinal studies of its effectiveness for reducing hate speech. To this end, we perform an exploratory analysis of the effectiveness of counter speech using several different macro- and micro-level measures to analyze 180,000 political conversations that took place on German Twitter over four years. We report on the dynamic interactions of hate and counter speech over time and provide insights into whether, as in ‘classic’ bullying situations, organized efforts are more effective than independent individuals in steering online discourse. Taken together, our results build a multifaceted picture of the dynamics of hate and counter speech online. While we make no causal claims due to the complexity of discourse dynamics, our findings suggest that organized hate speech is associated with changes in public discourse and that counter speech—especially when organized—may help curb hateful rhetoric in online discourse.

:cure-for-fascism:

  • Manypink [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Sam Biddle, one of Gawker's best and most notoriously aggressive writers, had tweeted that the lesson of Gamergate was that nerds should be bullied into submission; this in turn led to a flood of tweets and emails to me demanding that he be disciplined; I responded in a mode that seemed appropriate: I goaded and dismissed and largely treated the people complaining with a great deal of contempt and flippancy.

    -- Max Read, Gawker.com

    http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/08/did-i-kill-gawker.html

    • Quimby [any, any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      the key thing to remember with bullying, as well as comedy and other domains is Don't Punch Down. If you're punching up, you're probably fine. If you're punching down, you're probably not. That's why school bullying, as it typically exists, is wrong. But bullying people into being good humans isn't wrong. Bullying someone into being a better person isn't punching down.

      • Manypink [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        What if you're an upper middle class person and you're bullying someone who lives in his parents' basement? That's punching down but it's OK. Encouraged, even.