Tweeting Beyond Tahrir: Ideological Diversity and Political Intolerance in Egyptian Twitter Networks

Background

Social media data provide new insights into the shifting attitudes and communication networks of politically engaged Egyptians during a period of increasing repression and polarization in the aftermath of the coup that ousted former president Mohamed Morsi. Do online social networks affect political tolerance in the highly polarized climate of post-coup Egypt? Specifically, is there a relationship between network diversity and tolerance? Are people already tolerant when they enter diverse networks, or does a longer exposure to ideologically diverse content increase tolerance? How does exposure to elite, non-elite, or both elite and non-elite networks influence tolerance?

Study

To answer these questions, we use the real-time networked structure of Twitter data to investigate the relationship between the ideological diversity of Egyptian users’ Twitter networks and political intolerance in the Egyptian Twittersphere. Exploring the mechanisms by which network diversity might affect tolerance -- for example, attitude change as the result of repeated exposure to different political viewpoints -- we offer suggestive evidence that social norms in online networks may shape individuals’ likelihood to publicly express intolerant attitudes.

Results

We find not only that greater network diversity is associated with lower levels of intolerance, but also that longer exposure to a diverse network is linked to less expression of intolerance over time. This relationship persists in networks containing both well-known political or religious leaders with over 10,000 followers and everyday Twitter users with less than 10,000 followers. By providing insights from an authoritarian context, our findings contribute to the literature surrounding political tolerance and supplement the ongoing debate over the relationship between online echo chambers and political attitudes and behavior.