New Publication: Platform Polarization on Alternative vs. Mainstream Platforms
In a new article in Comunicazione politica’s special issue on Fringe Democracy and the Platformization of the Public Sphere, Jakob B?k Kristensen shows that the same news and information items trigger significantly more polarizing discourse when posted on alternative platforms than on mainstream platforms.
How much do platforms shape political discourse—beyond the content itself?
In “Platform Polarization. Do Alternative Platforms Drive Discursive Polarization?”, Jakob B?k Kristensen compares how identical news and information items are discussed across different platform contexts. The analysis demonstrates that alternative platforms are associated with more polarizing discursive dynamics than mainstream platforms, even when users engage with the same underlying information.
The article appears in Comunicazione politica (Issue 1/2025) as part of the special issue Fringe Democracy and the Platformization of the Public Sphere. Read it here: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.3270/116608