Studying online social media engagement in CIS countries during protests, mass demonstrations and war
Kuupäev
2023-10-13
Autorid
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
Abstrakt
Lõputöös uuriti proteste ja konflikte ning sellel uurimistööl on kaks olulisemat teaduslikku panust. Esiteks keskendume kahele Sõltumatute Riikide Ühenduse (SRÜ) riigile (Ukrainale ja Valgevenemaale), mis pole seni eriti paljude uurijate tähelepanu keskmes olnud. Palju on uuritud lääneriike, kus valdav enamus räägib inglise keelt. Samuti on teatud määral uuritud araabia maid (näiteks Egiptust). Teiseks keskendusime uuringut läbi viies mitte Twitterile, mis on protestide uurimiseks levinuim platvorm, vaid alternatiivsetele platvormidele, nagu Facebook ja Telegram. Need platvormid valisime seetõttu, et need on SRÜ riikides populaarsemad.
Lõputöö hõlmab kolme täpsemat uurimisteemat ning uuringu käigus kasutasime erinevaid arvutuslikke lähenemisi, nagu näiteks NLP, AI ja sotsiaalvõrgustike analüüs. Esmalt uurisime keelekasutust, et analüüsida Euromaydani Facebookigrupi liikmete käitumist enne Ukrainas toimunud Euromaidani revolutsiooni. Analüüs paljastas, et kasutajad muutsid oma keelekasutust, mille põhjuseks on meie hinnangul poliitilised ja ajaloolised faktorid. Teiseks uurisime arvukate konfliktiga seotud gruppide käitumist. Täpsemalt keskendusime mustritele erinevates Telegrami suhtluskeskkondades (kanalid, grupid ja kohalikud vestlused) Valgevene 2020. aasta protestide ajal. Lõputöö kolmanda teema raames viisime läbi kahe vastandliku poolega joonduvate organisatsioonide käitumise võrdleva uuringu. Peamiselt keskendusime Ukraina ja Venemaa kõige tuntumate ja mõjukamate massimeediaväljaannete tegevustele ja strateegiatele ajaperioodil, mil Venemaa 2022. aastal Ukrainasse tungis. Eelkõige olime huvitatud sellest, kuidas need väljaanded kujundasid konflikti kajastades oma propagandategevust, mis mõjutas inimeste käitumist.
This thesis studied protests and conflicts. The main contribution of the thesis is twofold. Firstly, we focus on two countries from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (Ukraine and Belarus), which has not been a focus of most of researchers. Western countries, where English is a predominant language has been studied a lot. There has also been some focus on studies related to Arab world (for example, Egypt). Secondly, compared to Twitter, which is a predominant platform to study protests, we focused on alternative platforms like Facebook and Telegram. Reason of selection of these platforms comes from the fact that these platforms are more popular in CIS countries. Thesis consists of three dimensions of research using various computational techniques, such as NLP, AI, and social network analysis. In the first dimension, we studied choice of language to capture behaviour among participants on Euromaydan Facebook group page before and after the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine. Our investigation revealed that users altered their language patterns, which we attribute to political and historical factors. In the second dimension of work, we examine the behaviour of numerous groups involved in conflict. Specifically, we focused on observing the patterns in different forms of mediums (Channels, Groups, and local chats) in Telegram during protests in Belarus during the 2020. In the last dimension of our analysis, we undertook a comparative study of the behaviour of organizations aligned with the two conflicting sides. Our specific focus was on examining the actions and strategies employed by the most prominent and influential mass media outlets in Ukraine and Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In particular, interest was how these outlets shaped their propaganda efforts in response to the conflict that influenced the behaviour of individuals.
This thesis studied protests and conflicts. The main contribution of the thesis is twofold. Firstly, we focus on two countries from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (Ukraine and Belarus), which has not been a focus of most of researchers. Western countries, where English is a predominant language has been studied a lot. There has also been some focus on studies related to Arab world (for example, Egypt). Secondly, compared to Twitter, which is a predominant platform to study protests, we focused on alternative platforms like Facebook and Telegram. Reason of selection of these platforms comes from the fact that these platforms are more popular in CIS countries. Thesis consists of three dimensions of research using various computational techniques, such as NLP, AI, and social network analysis. In the first dimension, we studied choice of language to capture behaviour among participants on Euromaydan Facebook group page before and after the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine. Our investigation revealed that users altered their language patterns, which we attribute to political and historical factors. In the second dimension of work, we examine the behaviour of numerous groups involved in conflict. Specifically, we focused on observing the patterns in different forms of mediums (Channels, Groups, and local chats) in Telegram during protests in Belarus during the 2020. In the last dimension of our analysis, we undertook a comparative study of the behaviour of organizations aligned with the two conflicting sides. Our specific focus was on examining the actions and strategies employed by the most prominent and influential mass media outlets in Ukraine and Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In particular, interest was how these outlets shaped their propaganda efforts in response to the conflict that influenced the behaviour of individuals.
Kirjeldus
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Märksõnad
social media, media use, information warfare, conflicts, propaganda, Commonwealth of Independent States, Ukraine