Social capital, political polarity, and socioeconomic status as predictors of political incivility on Twitter: A congressional district–level analysis
Publication: Social Science Computer Review, 35(1):10-32, 2016
Abstract
Using 414,322 Tweets drawn from 143,404 individual Twitter users located in all 435 U.S. congressional districts, this study employed big data and automated content analysis techniques to explore the degree to which socioeconomic status, social capital potential (i.e., the degree to which a congressional district has the potential for interconnected citizen networks), and in-district partisan polarization were associated with incivility on Twitter during the 2012 presidential election. Broadly speaking, and with some exceptions, the results indicated that election oriented incivility on Twitter was highest in districts that had low socio-economic status indicators, low levels of social capital potential, and low levels of partisan polarity. In its sum, this study shows how large social datasets (i.e., the Census) can be combined with big data to explain social phenomena. Keyword list: incivility, big data, Twitter, social capital, 2012 general election, congressional districts, partisan polarity * Authors contributed equally to this project. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 INCIVILITY ON TWITTER Socioeconomic Status, Social Capital, and Partisan Polarity as Predictors of Political Incivility on Twitter: A Congressional District-Level Analysis Over the past two decades, the rapid proliferation of web-based, socially
How to Cite
Vargo, C., & Hopp, T. (2016). Social capital, political polarity, and socioeconomic status as predictors of political incivility on Twitter: A congressional district–level analysis. Social Science Computer Review, 35(1), 10–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439315602858
Version and Rights
This is the author preprint. For the final published version, see the DOI above.