Exogenous Shocks Lead to Increased Responsiveness and Shifts in Sentimental Resilience in Online Discussions

Chathika Gunaratne, Subash K. Ray, Caroline Lourenço Alves, Maria Waldl

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effects of real-world events on the dynamics and sentiment expressed through online conversations are not entirely understood. In particular, the dynamics of highly polarized communities, deeply invested in the outcome of a particular event naturally tend to have a contrasting emotional sensitivity to exogenous events. In this study, we analyze Twitter conversations during the Mexico versus Germany group match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and investigate the effect of the live game outcomes on the conversation dynamics and sentiment. We find that the exogenous events influence conversation volume and virality less, while having high influence on user responsiveness. Interestingly, we observe a shift in the influence that exogenous events have on fans immediately following the only goal scored in the game. The emotional resilience of fans of the advantaged team increased following this exogenous shock. In contrast, the sentiment of the disadvantaged team was left more susceptible to further exogenous events following the exogenous shock. These results support the fact that user engagement and emotional resilience of an online population holding highly polarized stances can be manipulated through an exogenous event of high importance.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2019 International Conference of The Computational Social Science Society of the Americas
EditorsZining Yang, Elizabeth von Briesen
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media B.V.
Pages57-71
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9783030775162
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes
EventInternational Conference of the Computational Social Science Society of the Americas, CSSSA 2019 - Santa Fe, United States
Duration: Oct 24 2019Oct 27 2019

Publication series

NameSpringer Proceedings in Complexity
ISSN (Print)2213-8684
ISSN (Electronic)2213-8692

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference of the Computational Social Science Society of the Americas, CSSSA 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySanta Fe
Period10/24/1910/27/19

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Complex Systems Summer School 2018 conducted by the Santa Fe Institute, at which this project was conducted and without which this collaboration would not have been possible.

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