Policy Press

Brexit, Tweeted

Polarization and Social Media Manipulation

By Marco Bastos

Published

Jun 27, 2024

Page count

202 pages

ISBN

978-1529224498

Dimensions

203 x 127 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Jun 27, 2024

Page count

202 pages

ISBN

978-1529224504

Dimensions

203 x 127 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Jun 27, 2024

Page count

202 pages

ISBN

978-1529224504

Dimensions

203 x 127 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press
Brexit, Tweeted

Dissecting 45 million tweets from the period that followed the Brexit referendum, this book presents an extensive analysis of social media manipulation.

The book examines emerging changes in partisan politics, nationalist and populist values, as well as broader societal changes that are feeding into polarization and echo-chamber communication. It pulls the curtain back on the techniques employed to interfere with, and potentially distort, the public discussion.

Making complex data accessible to non-technical audiences, this unique post-mortem of the Brexit referendum contributes to our understanding of social media disinformation in the UK and beyond.

“Marco Bastos's social media analysis work already stands out, but this book provides perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of an event on Twitter, making it something of a landmark study.” Richard Rogers, University of Amsterdam

Marco Bastos is Ad Astra Fellow at the School of Information and Communication Studies at University College Dublin and Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication in the Department of Sociology at City, University of London.

1. Introduction

2. Fifty Million Brexit Tweets

PART I: The Great Upset

3. Political Realignment

4. Nationalism and Populism

PART II: Bots Talking to Bots

5. Polarization

6. Bots and Trolls

PART III: Troll Farms Offshore

7. Information Warfare

8. Social Media Manipulation

PART IV: Politics Erased

9. The Politics of Deletion

10. Accountability of Social Platforms

11. Conclusion