Tankies: A Data-driven Understanding of Left-Wing Extremists on Social Media - GNET
gnet-research.org
  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    Throughout our topic analysis, we find that tankies are particularly vocal about major geopolitical events (Fig. 4 and 5). They are especially focused on issues such as Chinese and North Korean politics, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel-Palestine conflict. They also show a keen interest in topics related to communism, fascism, and Stalin. However, when it comes to everyday societal challenges that are usually points of interest for the left wing—like policing, climate change, healthcare, housing, and workers’ rights—tankies seem less engaged.

    This pattern reveals a striking insight: tankies appear to be deeply invested in state-driven political events, often at the expense of grassroots societal issues. This underscores a distinct divergence in the priorities and discourse of left-wing extremists and the wider far-left community.

    Now do an analysis of comment times to see which timezone they are likely living in and which country’s holidays they sync up with.

    • PhilipTheBucket@ponder.catEnglish
      2·
      1 month ago

      I think they’ve wised up to the necessity of posting in the timezone of the targeted country at this point.

      And yes, it is weird that they went into so much detail about how deeply these accounts care about state-actor issues, and how little about domestic political or social issues that are more normal for the ideologies they are claiming to speak for, without drawing the obvious conclusion. “Just one of those little mysteries,” they seem to say.