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Breaking the Echo Chamber: Social Media Networks and Political Conflict

Author

Listed:
  • Menéndez, Luis
  • Montolio, Daniel
  • Mueller, Hannes
  • Slataper, Francesco

Abstract

This article exploits data from a political conflict between language groups to show how political events can rapidly redefine how these groups interact on social media. Leveraging on a unique dataset of 26 million retweets by 120 000 Catalan- and Spanish-speaking Twitter users, we estimate individual exposure to tweets with a network-based model. We then compare two shocks in the same region and year: the Barcelona terror attack and the Catalan independence referendum of 2017. The referendum, and related police violence, triggered a sharp, symmetric jump in retweeting across language groups. The terror attack, by contrast, did not lead to a similar realignment.

Suggested Citation

  • Menéndez, Luis & Montolio, Daniel & Mueller, Hannes & Slataper, Francesco, 2025. "Breaking the Echo Chamber: Social Media Networks and Political Conflict," CEPR Discussion Papers 20559, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20559
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    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP20559
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • C55 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis
    • C45 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Neural Networks and Related Topics

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