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Radical right mobilisation on social media : platform architectures and the politics of framing, rhetoric and visuals
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Florence : European University Institute, 2022
EUI; SPS; PhD Thesis
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KLEIN, Ofra, Radical right mobilisation on social media : platform architectures and the politics of framing, rhetoric and visuals, Florence : European University Institute, 2022, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/75112
Abstract
This dissertation sheds new light on the role of social media in radical right mobilisation. While existing studies on online mobilisation presume a uniformity of social media platforms, little research exists on how digital architectures, the design and technological features of these platforms, enable or constrain political mobilisation. This study shows how the radical right uses social media platforms for consensus mobilisation. A systematic cross-platform analysis of the activities of radical right actors on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram shows how the built-in features of the platforms—their algorithmic filtering, network structures, and functionalities—enable mobilisation online. It explains how radical right party leaders in six European countries use these platforms to motivate their online audiences to undertake action by using frames, rely on rhetoric to convince audiences of their views and share personalised visuals to identify with them from a distance. Social media has changed radical right mobilisation in several ways. First, social media platforms provide new opportunities for the radical right to share their ideas at low costs with large audiences. Second, social media has provided an opportunity for new actors to enter the political sphere. These actors actively contribute to mobilisation by popularising the radical right ideology. Third, radical right actors, such as parties, movements, politicians, alternative media, and communities use a variety of social media platforms for mobilisation, but do so depending on the technological features which these platforms offer.
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Defence date: 09 December 2022
Examining Board: Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, (EUI, supervisor); Professor Arnout van de Rijt, (EUI); Professor Barbara Pfetsch, (FU Berlin); Dr. Michael Bossetta, (Lund University)
Examining Board: Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, (EUI, supervisor); Professor Arnout van de Rijt, (EUI); Professor Barbara Pfetsch, (FU Berlin); Dr. Michael Bossetta, (Lund University)