Measuring Polarization in Twitter Enabled in Online Political Conversation: The Case of 2016 US Presidential Election

摘要

Political Polarization is the divergence of attitudes toward ideological extremes and it is more likely to happen in groups of like-minded individuals. We measured polarization on Twitter during the 2016 United States Presidential elections, analyzing Twitter backchanneling conversations occurring during the three Presidential debates. The polarization metric we use is based on an existing metaphor of the electric dipole. In each debate the polarization dynamic followed a U-shaped pattern, with polarization being high at the beginning of the debate, decreasing over time, and finally bouncing back to a value that was higher than the initial one. The temporary decline of polarization is due to the increase in interaction with participants holding opposite opinions, but apparently this interaction is more conducive to confrontation than to revision of existing beliefs. We argue that the characteristics of Twitter are generally conducive to polarized and manipulable online debate.