The Shaping of the Network Neutrality Debate: Information Subsidizers on Twitter

Kyungsun Lee, Yoonmo SANG, Weiai Xu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Drawing on the concept of information subsidy, this study explores the network neutrality debate in the context of Twitter. Content analysis of the top 150 most retweeted URLs demonstrates that the composition of information subsidizers on Twitter was more or less evenly divided among stakeholders, including government, industry, nonprofit/advocacy, and experts. Despite the diversity of sources, there was a clear lack of diversity in stance. The majority of sources displayed a favorable attitude toward net neutrality. Our findings highlight the potential of Twitter to represent the position of resource-poor information subsidizers, including advocacy groups, entrepreneurs, and race-based online communities, as they seek to uphold the neutrality of the Internet.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1544-1562
Number of pages19
JournalInternational Journal of Communication
Volume9
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes

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