Dynamics of Digital Mobilization

Welcome to the Blog of the Research Group Dynamics of Digital Mobilization of the Weizenbaum Institute and Freie Universität Berlin!

Our research group investigates the logics and interrelationship of digital information infrastructures, (transnational) mobilizations in networked digital publics, the dynamics of diffusion and manipulation of information under conditions of automation and algorithmic control, and the quality of public debates in Europe and on an international scale.

RESEARCH BLOG

  • ECPR General Conference at Charles University
    by DigiMoD
    On a five-day conference from the 4th until the 8th of September, we had an amazing chance to participate in the ECPR General Conference at Charles University! The event counted with an extensive program of about 60 sections covering the full breadth of political science and over 400 panels offering an engaging platform for discussion and debate! We had the chance to participate in panel sessions, featured roundtables, scholarly publishing sessions, a keynote lecture, and an expo. With a broad focus, the conference covered the main areas of political science, political theory, international relations, and European studies.  Some of our […]
  • International PhD Workshop in the University of Bern
    by DigiMoD
    From October 10th to 11th, the University of Bern hosted a great opportunity to dialogue ideas and insights on various doctoral research projects in a PhD Workshop! In a colloquium format, the event presented a valuable chance for professional exchange and network building. It united researchers from four universities who shared a common investigation expertise and objective.  The workshop was initiated and carried out by Barbara Pfetsch (Free University of Berlin/Weizenbaum Institute), Annett Heft (Free University of Berlin/Weizenbaum Institute), Silke Adam (University of Bern), Eva Mayerhöffer (University of Roskilde), and Annie Waldherr (University of Vienna). One PhD student from our […]
  • 2023 ECREA Political Communication Section Conference
    by DigiMoD
    On August 31st and September 1st, the Weizenbaum Institute and Free University of Berlin hosted the bi-annual ECREA Political Communication Section Conference! In an international environment, the event counted approximately 150 scholars from 23 countries in Europe, Australia, Asia, and America in Germany. The two-day conference was packed with exciting keynotes and insights into new research and provided special opportunities for network building. With the theme of Navigating the Noise: Effective Communication for Solving Political Problems, early-career researchers learned how to effectively communicate their research to diverse audiences. The event aimed to cover both traditional and new media, with a […]
  • How well can conspiracy theory content be measured on social media? It’s a matter of time!
    by Kilian Buehling
    Many civil society and academic projects are engaged in documenting and analyzing conspiracy theory, anti-democratic or racist discourse on social media. Kilian Buehling has investigated to what extent the results of these efforts are influenced by the time of data collection. In this article, he summarizes the results of a recently published study. A bizarre picture must have presented itself to new Twitter users joining the social media platform in 2021: They had read a lot about ousted President-elect Donald Trump’s offensive posts, disinformation campaigns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the constant danger of disappearing into a conspiracy theory echo […]
  • NEOVEX Meeting in Berlin
    by DigiMoD
    Periodically, the researchers of the NEOVEX project meet in person to report on the progress of their subprojects. This time, the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin hosted the meeting on Thursday, September 22. In addition to members of the subprojects from IFSH Hamburg, TU Munich, FU Berlin and IDZ Jena, the VDI Technology Center was present as a project partner of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research . An associated researcher from Imperial College London also attended the meeting. Short keynote presentations from the respective subprojects informed the participants about the status and first results of the […]