The online structure and development of posting behaviour in Dutch anti-vaccination groups on Telegram

Online communities play an important role in spreading public discontent and could contribute to polarization. This study focuses on anti-vaccination views in the Netherlands, which have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the structure and development of five Dutch anti-vaccination Telegram groups and studied their interactivity and posting behaviour. Using group-based trajectory modelling, we examined the development of users' posting behaviour in these groups. We find four posting trajectories across all five groups. A small group of users contributes the majority of posts... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Schlette, A.
van Prooijen, J.W.
Blokland, A.
Thijs, F.
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Reihe/Periodikum: Schlette , A , van Prooijen , J W , Blokland , A & Thijs , F 2022 , ' The online structure and development of posting behaviour in Dutch anti-vaccination groups on Telegram ' , New Media & Society . https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221128475
Schlagwörter: anti-vaccination movement / online community / posting behaviour / social media / telegram groups / communities
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27440120
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/94064455-1e6a-4203-a1f4-3d93bc53baa5

Online communities play an important role in spreading public discontent and could contribute to polarization. This study focuses on anti-vaccination views in the Netherlands, which have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the structure and development of five Dutch anti-vaccination Telegram groups and studied their interactivity and posting behaviour. Using group-based trajectory modelling, we examined the development of users' posting behaviour in these groups. We find four posting trajectories across all five groups. A small group of users contributes the majority of posts. Overall, posting frequency declines over time and our results do not show evidence for a group of users whose posting frequency increases. This is taken to indicate that only a small group of users spread their anti-vaccination views through Telegram groups. While social media can reach a broad audience, most users are not necessarily engaged to also actively contribute to the online anti-vaccination community.