Sedition Hunters: A Quantitative Study of the Crowdsourced Investigation into the 2021 U.S. Capitol Attack

Tianjiao Yu, Sukrit Venkatagiri, Ismini Lourentzou, Kurt Luther

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Social media platforms have enabled extremists to organize violent events, such as the 2021 U.S. Capitol Attack. Simultaneously, these platforms enable professional investigators and amateur sleuths to collaboratively collect and identify imagery of suspects with the goal of holding them accountable for their actions. Through a case study of Sedition Hunters, a Twitter community whose goal is to identify individuals who participated in the 2021 U.S. Capitol Attack, we explore what are the main topics or targets of the community, who participates in the community, and how. Using topic modeling, we find that information sharing is the main focus of the community. We also note an increase in awareness of privacy concerns. Furthermore, using social network analysis, we show how some participants played important roles in the community. Finally, we discuss implications for the content and structure of online crowdsourced investigations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationACM Web Conference 2023 - Proceedings of the World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2023
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages3849-3858
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781450394161
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 30 2023
Externally publishedYes
Event2023 World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2023 - Austin, United States
Duration: Apr 30 2023May 4 2023

Publication series

NameACM Web Conference 2023 - Proceedings of the World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2023

Conference

Conference2023 World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAustin
Period4/30/235/4/23

Keywords

  • Capitol Riot
  • collective action
  • crowdsourced investigations
  • crowdsourcing
  • extremism
  • social network analysis
  • topic modeling

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Software

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sedition Hunters: A Quantitative Study of the Crowdsourced Investigation into the 2021 U.S. Capitol Attack'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this