From solidarity to blame game: A computational approach to comparing far-right and general public Twitter discourse in the aftermath of the Hanau terror attack

Julian Hohner; Heidi Schulze; Simon Greipl; Diana Rieger

doi:10.5771/2192-4007-2022-2-304

Contents
- Chapter Expand | CollapseAuthorsPage
- 1–185 Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis 1–185
- 186–333 FULL PAPER 186–333
  - 186–209 Between reflective evaluation and opinion-finds-me – News-YouTubers’ role in young adults’ political opinion-forming process Nariman Sawalha, Veronika Karnowski Nariman Sawalha, Veronika Karnowski 186–209
  - 210–239 Media use and protest participation – but what is in-between? The role of different sources of information, media-related perceptions, and political efficacy for protest behavior Marlene Schaaf, Christina Viehmann Marlene Schaaf, Christina Viehmann 210–239
  - 240–277 Priming von Stereotypen durch geschlechtergerechte Sprache in journalistischen Texten Frederieke Cirksena, Dominik J . Leiner Frederieke Cirksena, Dominik J . Leiner 240–277
  - 278–303 “Alexa, Siri, Google, what do you know about corona?” A quantitative survey of voice assistants and content analysis of their answers on questions about the COVID-19 pandemic Katharina Frehmann, Marc Ziegele, Ulrich Rosar Katharina Frehmann, Marc Ziegele, Ulrich Rosar 278–303
  - 304–333 From solidarity to blame game: A computational approach to comparing far-right and general public Twitter discourse in the aftermath of the Hanau terror attack Julian Hohner, Heidi Schulze, Simon Greipl, Diana Rieger Julian Hohner, Heidi Schulze, Simon Greipl, Diana Rieger 304–333
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SCM Studies in Communication and Media , page 304 - 333

From solidarity to blame game: A computational approach to comparing far-right and general public Twitter discourse in the aftermath of the Hanau terror attack

Autoren

Julian Hohner Heidi Schulze Simon Greipl Diana Rieger

DOI
- doi.org/10.5771/2192-4007-2022-2-304
- ISSN online: 2192-4007
Abstract

Terror attacks are followed by public shock and disorientation. Previous research has found that people use social media to collectively negotiate responses, interpretations, and sense-making in the aftermath of terror attacks. However, the role of ideologically motivated discussions and their relevance to the overall discourse have not been studied. This paper addresses this gap and focuses specifically on the far-right discourse, comparing it to the general public Twitter discourse following the terror attack in Hanau in 2020. A multi-method approach combines network analysis and structural topic modelling to analyse 237,000 tweets. We find responsibility attribution to be one of the central themes: The general discourse primarily voiced sympathy with the victims and attributed responsibility for the attack to farright terror or activism. In contrast, the far right - in an attempt to reshape the general narrative - raised a plethora of arguments to shift the attribution of responsibility from far-right activism towards the (political) elite and the personal circumstances of the shooter. In terms of information sharing and seeking, we demonstrate that new information was contextualised differentially depending on the ideological stance. The results are situated in the scientific discourse concerning differences in social media communication ensuing terrorist attacks.
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