Great Divisions: The Evolution of Polarization During the Man-made Emergency of January 6, 2021.

Abstract

Polarization, which refers to the formation of two opposing groups based on the users' beliefs and opinions, has a growing body of literature. However, social media polarization differs from offline polarization in that beliefs change almost instantaneously on social media as a result of events unfolding. We investigate the uses of social media communication that has resulted in polarized opinions among individuals prior to, during, and after the January 6th Capitol riots. Analyses of the dominant narratives on Twitter surrounding the incident reveal a high level of polarization throughout the unfolding of the event, with increased polarization possibly attributable to the onset of the crisis. We also observed that polarization is a dynamic phenomenon: as an event unfolds, polarization changes, and knowing how it changes is important for timely crisis resolution. We propose three measures of polarization that could be used to examine polarization accurately during a crisis.