According to Funk Podcast & Blog

When assumptions become certainties: Group dynamics in digital conflict communities

‘How do presumptions turn into apparent certainties? A media psychology analysis shows how narratives become entrenched in digital communities.”

The Internet doesn't forget, but it changes. Anyone who moves for a long time in highly networked and often conflicting online communities will witness fascinating group dynamic processes. When looking at such networks, it is rarely a matter of simply distinguishing between ‘truth’ and ‘lies’. Much more complex and methodologically revealing is the question of how information is processed within a group, evaluated linguistically and finally passed on with varying degrees of certainty.

If the analysis proves itself: A case study on digital communication patterns

“A media-critical case study on how comment areas become illustrative material: on Therapyspeak, perpetrator-victim reversal, transparency demands and the mechanisms of escalating digital bubbles.”

Four weeks after our article on digital dynamics (‘The anatomy of the digital mob: When Factual Criticism Becomes a Betrayal“) Something interesting happened: The comment section itself became illustrative material. Not as an insignificant secondary setting, but as a living, plastic example of exactly those mechanisms that we had previously described on a theoretical level.

Meta-conflicts and narrative mimicry: How the YouTube Gossip Bubble Deconstructs the Truth

“Two videos, two truths, two columns of comments: The conflict over a never-before-seen interview exemplifies how YouTube gossip bubbles build competing stock truths from facts.”

Two videos, two truths, two comment columns: In one version, a creator was allegedly successfully exposed. In the other version, he himself recognized a trap in time and protected himself. In between are 7,000 euros, a never-before-seen interview, and a digital public looking less for objective truth than for confirmation of their own camp affiliation.

The Causal Chain of Moral Bankruptcy: A Chronological Reconstruction of the YouTube True Crime War

“True crime reporting has become a parasocial arena on YouTube. A deep, chronological analysis of reach envy, leaked mountains of debt and the abstruse commercialisation of revenge merch in the true crime scene.’

The processing of real criminal cases on YouTube often moves on a narrow ridge. Not all formats are based on journalistic or ethical standards. In a specific environment of the platform, a parasocial arena has developed. Clicks act as a hard currency. Artificial indignation serves as a lucrative fuel. Real, often tragic criminal cases are increasingly being degraded to the pure backdrop in this environment. They often serve only the self-staging of the content creators.

Why digital violence is escalating on social media and how to tackle it

“Hate comments, cyberbullying and digital hate speech are on the rise. But why are online conflicts escalating so much faster than in the analogue world?’

Introduction: The dark side of digital networking

The internet, and social media in particular, once entered our lives with a utopian promise: They should serve the democratization of knowledge, break down barriers and unite people worldwide in an open, constructive dialogue. Today, more than two decades after the rise of the first major platforms, however, a much more ambivalent picture emerges. In addition to the undeniable advantages of global networking, the digital space has increasingly developed into a venue for verbal assault, intimidation and systematic incitement. We understand these phenomena under the concept of Digital violence together.