
Telegram's design prioritizes user security and minimal content moderation, making it appealing for communities banned from mainstream platforms, such as conspiracy influencers or far-right movements. We examine the bi-directional behavior of users in a conspiratorial Telegram group chat during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020-2023. We find that the network structure of this community evolved throughout the pandemic, where the network grew both in the number of active users, as well as in the number of interactions. This increased interconnectivity coincided with surges in planning discussions for associated offline protests.
collective action, /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1700/1709; name=Human-Computer Interaction, 330, conspiracy theories, social network analysis, /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1700/1704; name=Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design, /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1700/1712; name=Software, Telegram, 004
collective action, /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1700/1709; name=Human-Computer Interaction, 330, conspiracy theories, social network analysis, /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1700/1704; name=Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design, /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1700/1712; name=Software, Telegram, 004
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 1 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
