Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series - HPS³Einladung - Anita R. Gohdes " Civilian Signalling on Social Media During Civil War (with Zachary C. Steinert-Threlkeld)
13 April 2022
We are proud to launch the Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series - HPS³.
The seminar series will feature international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in empirical political science and political economy.
The seminar series takes place bi-weekly on Wednesdays in the summer semester 2022 in person or via zoom.
Please see the HPS³ Website (https://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/en/fachbereich-sowi/professuren/troeger/events/hamburg-political-science-seminar-series.html) for further information.
We welcome on
April 13, 2022, 17:15-18:45 CET
in VMP 5 2098/2194
& Zoom (https://uni-hamburg.zoom.us/j/61750438532?pwd=eCtVWS9QNGVnN29pVDZFaUs0SllkQT09#success)
Anita R. Gohdes (Hertie School Berlin)
Title: Civilian Signalling on Social Media During Civil War (with Zachary C. Steinert-Threlkeld)
Abstract: Recent research has highlighted the mobilization potential of social media, which can offer citizens who were previously motivated to hide their true preferences an easier way to share their grievances and find common support. In active conflict, however, social media posts indicating political loyalties can pose a severe risk to civilians. For example, anti-regime sentiments or displays of digital support for opposition activities may prove to be life-threatening in government controlled areas. In this paper, we argue that social media will be used as a device for strategic signalling in conflict situations where civilians are aware of at least one conflict side monitoring the online sphere for intelligence. We expect civilians to alter their social media usage, in particular when faced with profound changes to territorial control. We study dynamics of social media usage in Syria, focusing on the end of the siege of Aleppo in late 2016. Using geolocated tweets, we match Twitter users in Aleppo to users in other parts of Syria to understand how the siege impacted Aleppo-based users' online activity, sentiment, and emotion. The findings have important implications for our understanding of the risks - and the potential for civilian agency - of everyday digital communication in civil conflict.
We invite everyone interested to attend and are looking forward to seeing you.
Best Regards,
Vera E. Troeger
Kai-Uwe Schnapp
Max Schaub
Universität Hamburg
Fakultät Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften
Politikwissenschaften
www.uni-hamburg.de