Affective Polarization on Indonesia Twittersphere: Natural or Polluted by Cyber Troops?

Abstract

Affective Polarization is a disliking towards out-groups and liking towards in-groups. Scholars studying affective polarization in the online context focus on the impact of social media on affective polarization, or vice versa. There are still few scholars discussing the background or identity of social media users engaged in affectively polarized discussions. Twitter is a confirmed platform for affective polarization, and we observed a case phenomenon in hashtags that depict affective polarization in Indonesian Twitter, specifically in the hashtags #SBYBapakhoax and #TerimakasihPakSBY. Abnormal activity in both hashtags, such as the rapid rise and trending status, prompted us to investigate whether the affective polarization in these hashtags occurred naturally or not. Using content and network analysis on N=8956 posts and 675 accounts on #SBYBapakHoax, and N=11,242 posts and 702 accounts on #TerimakasihPakSBY, we found that affective polarization in both hashtags did not occur naturally and was polluted by the presence of cyber troops. The findings of this study contribute to complementing previous studies on affective polarization in the online context. This is also valuable for voters who use social media, especially Twitter, as one of their political preferences, to identify the presence of cyber troop characteristics in a political conversation both before and during the general elections, so they are not influenced by the conflicts arising and can make informed political decisions.