Details
Original language | English |
---|---|
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Social Media and Society |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 18 Dec 2023 |
Abstract
This article explores how the pandemic in Iran was discursively framed by automated accounts and human users. While there is a growing body of literature on bot activism, little is known about how bots and humans framed the pandemic in authoritarian regimes. Drawing on networked framing theory, we use both computational and qualitative methods to fill this gap. Our empirical analysis centers on a data set of 4,165,177 tweets collected between 27 January 2020 and 18 April 2020. We found that while anti-regime human users strongly criticized Iran’s regime, pro-regime bots countered with messages emphasizing the sacrifices of medical staff, the strength of Iran, and the failings of Western governments in managing the crisis. Our results suggest that Persian Twitter human users were largely against the regime, while the regime employed bots extensively to maintain balance. Human users used sarcasm, while pro-regime bots invoked religious and revolutionary sentiments metaphorically to defend the regime. By focusing on a relatively unexplored context, this article adds to the growing literature on bot activism.
Keywords
- bot activism, Covid-19, Iran, networked framing, Twitter
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Cultural Studies
- Social Sciences(all)
- Communication
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Science Applications
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In: Social Media and Society, Vol. 9, No. 4, 18.12.2023.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Bots Versus Humans
T2 - Discursive Activism During the Pandemic in the Iranian Twittersphere
AU - Kermani, Hossein
AU - Bayat Makou, Alireza
AU - Tafreshi, Amirali
AU - Mohamad Ghodsi, Amir
AU - Ataee, Homa
N1 - Funding Information: The first author thanks the Faculty of Social Sciences (University of Vienna) for supporting this study. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The first author has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101029945.) This paper reflects only the authors’ views; the European Research Council Executive Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
PY - 2023/12/18
Y1 - 2023/12/18
N2 - This article explores how the pandemic in Iran was discursively framed by automated accounts and human users. While there is a growing body of literature on bot activism, little is known about how bots and humans framed the pandemic in authoritarian regimes. Drawing on networked framing theory, we use both computational and qualitative methods to fill this gap. Our empirical analysis centers on a data set of 4,165,177 tweets collected between 27 January 2020 and 18 April 2020. We found that while anti-regime human users strongly criticized Iran’s regime, pro-regime bots countered with messages emphasizing the sacrifices of medical staff, the strength of Iran, and the failings of Western governments in managing the crisis. Our results suggest that Persian Twitter human users were largely against the regime, while the regime employed bots extensively to maintain balance. Human users used sarcasm, while pro-regime bots invoked religious and revolutionary sentiments metaphorically to defend the regime. By focusing on a relatively unexplored context, this article adds to the growing literature on bot activism.
AB - This article explores how the pandemic in Iran was discursively framed by automated accounts and human users. While there is a growing body of literature on bot activism, little is known about how bots and humans framed the pandemic in authoritarian regimes. Drawing on networked framing theory, we use both computational and qualitative methods to fill this gap. Our empirical analysis centers on a data set of 4,165,177 tweets collected between 27 January 2020 and 18 April 2020. We found that while anti-regime human users strongly criticized Iran’s regime, pro-regime bots countered with messages emphasizing the sacrifices of medical staff, the strength of Iran, and the failings of Western governments in managing the crisis. Our results suggest that Persian Twitter human users were largely against the regime, while the regime employed bots extensively to maintain balance. Human users used sarcasm, while pro-regime bots invoked religious and revolutionary sentiments metaphorically to defend the regime. By focusing on a relatively unexplored context, this article adds to the growing literature on bot activism.
KW - bot activism
KW - Covid-19
KW - Iran
KW - networked framing
KW - Twitter
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85180198752&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/20563051231216927
DO - 10.1177/20563051231216927
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85180198752
VL - 9
JO - Social Media and Society
JF - Social Media and Society
IS - 4
ER -