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COLLECTIVE ACTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE: HOW DO PROTESTS INFLUENCE SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IMMIGRANTS?

Wei, Kai (2019) COLLECTIVE ACTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE: HOW DO PROTESTS INFLUENCE SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IMMIGRANTS? Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This study aims to improve our understanding of using protest as an intervention strategy to reduce online users’ prejudiced speech against immigrants by: 1) developing a reliable method to measure for online users’ prejudiced speech against immigrants; 2) examining the role of temporal and geographic exposure to protest in online users’ prejudiced speech against immigrants; and 3) examining the role of group identity in the relationship between protest and online users’ prejudiced speech against immigrants. It hypothesizes that protest would reduce online users’ prejudiced speech against immigrants. After collecting 31,210,740 tweets from 102, 094 Twitter users, machine learning techniques were leveraged into developing a reliable measurement for online users’ prejudiced speech against immigrants. Repeated measures of users’ prejudiced speech were taken in a two-week window to establish baseline before and after protest. Analyses examined group differences across different levels of geographic exposure to local protest and between users identified with different groups using analysis of variance procedures. Overall, this research did not provide evidence supporting the claim that protest can reduce online prejudiced speech. However, it was found that users expressed more prejudiced speech after protest compared to baseline before protest. This change was more pronounced among users located furthest (in geographic distance) from the cities where protests occurred. It was also more pronounced among users who did not identify with immigrants. Further research is needed to determine if these results call into question the effectiveness of protest in reducing prejudiced speech or are peculiar to social media, and if so, how these negative effects can be mitigated.


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Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Wei, Kaikaw153@pitt.edukaw153
Date: 29 August 2019
Date Type: Completion
Approval Date: 3 September 2019
Access Restriction: No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Number of Pages: 178
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: School of Social Work > Social Work
Degree: PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
Thesis Type: Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed: No
Other ID: weikaiangela@gmail.com
Date Deposited: 03 Sep 2019 20:07
Last Modified: 03 Sep 2019 20:07
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/37409

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