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

• Publications, presentations and more… (Q3 2025)
  Dear blog readers, please note that future blog posts will be uploaded on a quarterly basis. 13.07. – New Publication In the middle of July, Dr. Kilian Bühling (Universität Tübingen & Weizenbaum-Institut), together with colleagues Dr. Olga Pasitselska (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) and Dr. Emilija Gagrčin (Universität Mannheim & University of Bergen, Norway), published their paper “Chat groups as local civic infrastructure: A case study of “Solidary neighborhood help”” in the journal New Media & Society. Their research explores how messaging groups on Telegram afforded a space for civic action during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. How exactly such… Read more: Publications, presentations and more… (Q3 2025)
• Winter School on Digital Political Communication in Roskilde, Denmark
  On March 17-18, 2025, Baoning Gong, Miriam Milzner, Daniel Thiele and Dr. Kilian Buehling (all from Freie Universität Berlin and Weizenbaum-Institut), as well as Dr. Annett Heft (Universität Tübingen and Weizenbaum-Institut) and Prof. Dr. Barbara Pfetsch (Freie Universität Berlin and Weizenbaum-Institut) took part in the Winter School in Digital Political Communication and the Digital Public Sphere, hosted by Roskilde University (Denmark). The event offered opportunities for academic exchange on current projects, as well as ample networking possibilities. Scholars from Universität Wien, Universität Passau, Universität Bern, and Roskilde University were also present, and discussions ranged from digital political communication and the… Read more: Winter School on Digital Political Communication in Roskilde, Denmark
• 70th Annual Conference of the DGPuK at Freie Universität Berlin and Weizenbaum-Institut
  From March 19th to 21st 2025, the Freie Universität Berlin, represented by the Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft and Weizenbaum-Institut, hosted the 70th Annual Conference of the German Society for Journalism and Communication Studies (DGPuK). This year’s theme – “Public Sphere(s) and Values”, aimed to shed light on significant events from the last few years – from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in the Middle East to the Global Climate Crisis. Centering the conference around the topic of “Values”, scholars had the opportunity to explore those such as freedom, justice, equality, safety, solidarity, and truth. The conference was opened… Read more: 70th Annual Conference of the DGPuK at Freie Universität Berlin and Weizenbaum-Institut
• How Digitalization Shapes Elections and Democracies
  On March 4, 2025, Dr. Annett Heft (Freie Universität Berlin and Weizenbaum-Institut) presented at and moderated the panel “Dynamics of Digital Mobilization and Interference in Platform Ecosystems” during “How digitalization shapes Elections and Democracies”, a joint event of Weizenbaum-Institut and Oxford Internet Institute. The event, which was held at St. Anne´s College in Oxford, included discussions on the effects of digitalization during the super-election year 2024 and democratic processes in general, as well as a keynote speech by Prof. Ralph Schroeder (University of Oxford) on online politics in India and the US. The panel “Dynamics of Digital Mobilization and Interference… Read more: How Digitalization Shapes Elections and Democracies
• Fellow Talk on Fringe Dynamics: Studying Anti-Democratic Movements at the Margins of Platform Ecosystems
  The year of 2025 began with an engaging fellow talk by Dr. Daniela Mahl on January 14th at the Weizenbaum Institute, where she presented her work on Fringe Dynamics: Studying Anti-Democratic Movements at the Margins of Platform Ecosystems. Her talk was inspired by the growing uncertainty surrounding the epistemic standards by which reality is approached marked by diagnoses of the era of “alternative facts” (Kamisar, 2019) and “post-truth politics” (Davies, 2016). When these standards compete and diverge, and when social upheavals undermine trust in established systems of knowledge production, societies enter an epistemological crisis—creating fertile ground for anti-democratic movements. Dr.… Read more: Fellow Talk on Fringe Dynamics: Studying Anti-Democratic Movements at the Margins of Platform Ecosystems
• Workshop Conditions of Success for the Far-Right: A One-Day Exploration of Communication Strategies, Critique and Scholarly Insights
  In November 2024, Baoning Gong and Florian Primig (FU Berlin) organized the workshop Conditions of Success for the Far-Right: A One-Day Exploration of Communication Strategies, Critique, and Scholarly Insights. This event, part of the workshop series of the Far-Right Researchers (FFR) network, brought together scholars from the “Contemporary Research on Far-Right Politics” group at the Weizenbaum Institute to explore the factors driving the far-right’s persistent rise. Through interdisciplinary discussions, participants examined the role of alienation, conspiracy theories, and alternative knowledge structures in fueling far-right mobilization. Presentations explored key topics such as digital media tactics, the rise of transnational networks, and… Read more: Workshop<em> Conditions of Success for the Far-Right: A One-Day Exploration of Communication Strategies, Critique and Scholarly Insights</em>
• Veiled conspiracism: Particularities and convergence in the styles and functions of conspiracy-related communication across digital platforms.
  At the beginning of this year, Dr. Kilian Buehling, Prof. Dr. Annett Heft, and Xixuan Zhang (all from the Weizenbaum Institute and Freie Universität Berlin) published their paper Veiled conspiracism: Particularities and convergence in the styles and functions of conspiracy-related communication across digital platforms in New Media & Society. Their research explores how digital communication spaces serve as critical infrastructures for anti-democratic actors to disseminate harmful content, particularly conspiracy theories. By exploiting platform affordances, these actors integrate conspiracy narratives into broader public discourse to advance their political agendas. To examine platform-dependent differences and convergence, the study compared the word choice,… Read more: Veiled conspiracism: Particularities and convergence in the styles and functions of conspiracy-related communication across digital platforms.
• Final Event of the NEOVEX Research Project
  On the 10th of December, our team members  Annett Heft (Universität Tübingen, Freie Universität Berlin/Weizenbaum Institute),  Kilian Buehling and Xixuan Zhang (both Freie Universität Berlin/Weizenbaum Institute) participated in the final event of the NEOVEX research project, which took place at the Representation of the State of Hamburg in Berlin. The event started with the presentation of the results of the subprojects. The IFSH Hamburg shared their findings from long-term and case studies on conspiracy theories and far-right ideologies. The colleagues of the TU Munich presented their conclusions on the (international) networks of actors during the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, the IDZ Jena presented its… Read more: Final Event of the NEOVEX Research Project
• Die Transnationalität rechtsextremer Verschwörungstheorien online und ihre länderspezifische Adaption
  Conspiracy theories have never been limited by geopolitical borders. In today’s digital age, advancements in technology have amplified interactions between individuals and groups worldwide, accelerating the spread of such ideas across nations. This work by Xixuan Zhang, Joana Becker, Dr. Annett Heft, and Dr. Kilian Buehling explores into methods for measuring the transnational dissemination of conspiracy theories, shedding light on their global reach. The following text has been originally published in German on the NEOVEX website. Verschwörungstheorien haben auch in der Vergangenheit nicht an geopolitischen Grenzen Halt gemacht. Doch die Entwicklungen digitaler Technologien haben das Potenzial für Interaktionen zwischen Einzelnen und Gruppen… Read more: Die Transnationalität rechtsextremer Verschwörungstheorien online und ihre länderspezifische Adaption