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CCDS Researchers Receive Awards from Twitter, WhatsApp
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pair of researchers from the iSchool’s Center for Computational and Data Science (CCDS) have received awards from two prominent social media platforms to closely examine the nature of discussions on each network. DISCUSSION QUALITY ON TWITTER Professor Jennifer Stromer-Galley and Postdoctoral Researcher Patricia Rossini are part of an interdisciplinary team selected by Twitter to conduct research and develop metrics to help identify behaviors that are threatening to the quality of the discussions on the platform. In addition to Syracuse University, other institutions participating include Leiden University, Delft University of Technology, and Bocconi University. Over 230 proposals were reviewed in the selection process, and the team was one of two chosen to receive a Twitter research grant. The team brings together scholars with different backgrounds and expertise, bridging political science, communication, and computer science to develop metrics and conduct experiments aimed at identifying potentially problematic behaviors on Twitter. Led by Rebekah Tromble, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Leiden University in the Netherlands, the team will conduct research comparing discussions around polarized and non-polarized topics in the United States and United Kingdom to develop and implement four metrics that will provide a better understanding of how communities form around discussions on Twitter and will investigate the extent of certain problems that may develop in those discussions. Tromble was a visiting scholar at CCDS from January through August 2017.
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Postdoctoral Researcher Patricia Rossini (left) and Professor Jennifer Stromer-Galley at WhatsApp headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., where they met with company researchers on a new project to study how the messaging application is used in discussions about politics and elections.
The project focuses on two challenges faced by Twitter. The first is the presence of echo chambers — that is, the extent to which discussions are enclaved in homogeneous, and often polarized, groups. The second area of research will explore uncivil and intolerant discourse. These metrics will examine the extent to which those who participate in Twitter discussions engage in toxic behaviors. “Political discussion online is often dismissed due to uncivil discourse, and because of that we are sometimes unable to understand its true value. Rather than lumping all problematic discourse into a single category, we distinguish between uncivil and
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intolerant statements. Incivility online might serve an important and valid purpose in discourse, while intolerance is, by its nature, threatening to democracy,” explains Rossini, whose research focuses on understanding such discourse online. As part of the research grant, the team will work closely with Twitter. While scholars will have the autonomy to develop and publish research under this grant, the outcomes of this project will help inform Twitter’s future policies and practices to promote a healthy conversational environment.
