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The Influence of the Vocal Few: Evidence from Social Media Comments

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  • Dante Donati
  • Lena Song

Abstract

Online comment sections let a small number of vocal individuals reach far beyond their own networks. We conduct a large-scale field experiment on Facebook that randomizes the presence and stance of comments beneath posts for a racial justice organization, reaching around one million U.S. users. Opposing comments increase reactions, comments, and link clicks by 15-43 percent relative to no comments, whereas supportive comments have little effect. A complementary survey experiment shows that similar opposing comments make attitudes less progressive and reduce donations to the organization. Through a common feature of online platforms, the vocal few can exert outsized influence.

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  • Dante Donati & Lena Song, 2026. "The Influence of the Vocal Few: Evidence from Social Media Comments," Papers 2609.32880, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2609.32880
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