Sociologist uses Twitter to research criminological behavior online

In the modern era of social media, more than 300 million people use Twitter to share news and engage in online conversations. This provides a glimpse into the minds of a diverse public, making Twitter a useful tool for researchers to study people who sympathize and promote extreme violence.

Karyn Sporer, University of Maine assistant professor of sociology, is analyzing a subsample of more than 4,300 tweets looking for emerging themes that justify violence. One of her goals is to help agencies find strategies to counter violent extremism and radicalization.

The project, “Justifications for violence: How jihadist sympathizers rationalize terrorism and mass murder,” focuses on related tweets occurring within 24 hours surrounding three separate mass-casualty events: the Paris coordinated event in November 2015, and the Orlando Pulse Nightclub event and Nice cargo truck event in June and July 2016, respectively. The three were chosen because of their similarly high number of casualties, intense media focus and social response.

The UMaine project is one of six awarded Summer Faculty Research Funds by the UMaine Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School.

A full story about Sporer’s research is online.

Contact: Christel Peters, 581.3571