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The geographic embedding of online echo chambers: Evidence from the Brexit campaign

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  • Marco Bastos
  • Dan Mercea
  • Andrea Baronchelli

Abstract

This study explores the geographic dependencies of echo-chamber communication on Twitter during the Brexit campaign. We review the evidence positing that online interactions lead to filter bubbles to test whether echo chambers are restricted to online patterns of interaction or are associated with physical, in-person interaction. We identify the location of users, estimate their partisan affiliation, and finally calculate the distance between sender and receiver of @-mentions and retweets. We show that polarized online echo-chambers map onto geographically situated social networks. More specifically, our results reveal that echo chambers in the Leave campaign are associated with geographic proximity and that the reverse relationship holds true for the Remain campaign. The study concludes with a discussion of primary and secondary effects arising from the interaction between existing physical ties and online interactions and argues that the collapsing of distances brought by internet technologies may foreground the role of geography within one’s social network.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Bastos & Dan Mercea & Andrea Baronchelli, 2018. "The geographic embedding of online echo chambers: Evidence from the Brexit campaign," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0206841
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206841
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    Cited by:

    1. Andreu Casero-Ripollés & Josep-Lluís Micó-Sanz & Míriam Díez-Bosch, 2020. "Digital Public Sphere and Geography: The Influence of Physical Location on Twitter’s Political Conversation," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 96-106.
    2. Matteo Cinelli & Emanuele Brugnoli & Ana Lucia Schmidt & Fabiana Zollo & Walter Quattrociocchi & Antonio Scala, 2020. "Selective exposure shapes the Facebook news diet," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Annie Waldherr & Ulrike Klinger & Barbara Pfetsch, 2021. "Spaces, Places, and Geographies of Public Spheres: Exploring Dimensions of the Spatial Turn," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(3), pages 1-4.
    4. Mason Youngblood, 2020. "Extremist ideology as a complex contagion: the spread of far-right radicalization in the United States between 2005 and 2017," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, December.

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