During a crisis leaders often encourage unity. At the same time, polarization is increasing - and a crisis can be used to shed further negative light on opponents.
How did these competing incentives shape elite rhetoric during the pandemic?, asks @MJHeseltine at #APSA2022 1/5
How did these competing incentives shape elite rhetoric during the pandemic?, asks @MJHeseltine at #APSA2022 1/5
The data is 20 million tweets from 6 English-speaking countries, using classifiers of polarizing rhetoric in COVID-19-related tweets. 2/5
Analyses show that there was a massive spike in covid tweets in March 2020, in particular in the US and Canada. At the same time, in spring '20, there is a strong decrease in polarization but it increases again after a few months. 3/5
As the pandemic unfolds, covid-related tweets begin to become more polarized than non-covid tweets, especially in Australia. As covid cases increased, there are more tweets on covid and also more polarizing content. 4/5
To understand polarization during the pandemic, it is key to focus on the entire timeline. The beginning was characterized by a dip in polarization but, as the crisis unfolded, covid became a polarizing topic in itself. 5/5
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