Emilija Gagrčin | Freie Universität Berlin (original) (raw)

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Papers by Emilija Gagrčin

Research paper thumbnail of “Intervening Is a Good Thing but . . .”: The Role of Social Norms in Users’ Justifications of (Non-)Intervention Against Incivility

Social Media + Society

User intervention against incivility as social enforcement of democratic norms on social media pl... more User intervention against incivility as social enforcement of democratic norms on social media platforms is considered an act of “good citizenship” by citizens and scholars alike. However, between ideals and behavior, multiple social norms are at play in shaping individuals’ sense of personal responsibility for intervening. This study explores the role of conflicting norms in situations requiring user intervention against online incivility. By combining the perspectives of norms as expectations and norms as cultural vocabularies, we investigate users’ salient norms, and how these norms influence users’ justifications for (non-)intervention. Based on qualitative interview data from Germany ( N = 20), we identified three distinct reasoning patterns employed to justify (non-)intervention: the pragmatic, the dismissive, and the aspirational. By identifying fault lines, our typology points to normative origins of ambivalence related to user intervention. The findings offer insights into ...

Research paper thumbnail of Datafication Markers: Curation and User Network Effects on Mobilization and Polarization During Elections

Media and Communication

Social media platforms are crucial sources of political information during election campaigns, wi... more Social media platforms are crucial sources of political information during election campaigns, with datafication processes underlying the algorithmic curation of newsfeeds. Recognizing the role of individuals in shaping datafication processes and leveraging the metaphor of news attraction, we study the impact of user curation and networks on mobilization and polarization. In a two-wave online panel survey (n = 943) conducted during the 2021 German federal elections, we investigate the influence of self-reported user decisions, such as following politicians, curating their newsfeed, and being part of politically interested networks, on changes in five democratic key variables: vote choice certainty, campaign participation, turnout, issue reinforcement, and affective polarization. Our findings indicate a mobilizing rather than polarizing effect of algorithmic election news exposure and highlight the relevance of users’ political networks on algorithmic platforms.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Who, if not me?’ How political self-categorizations shape the meaning of political self-expression on social media as a citizenship norm

Information, Communication & Society

Research paper thumbnail of Your social ties, your personal public sphere, your responsibility: How users construe a sense of personal responsibility for intervention against uncivil comments on Facebook

New Media & Society

User intervention against incivility is a significant element of democratic norm enforcement on s... more User intervention against incivility is a significant element of democratic norm enforcement on social media, and feeling personally responsible for acting is a vital prerequisite for intervention. However, our insight into how users construe their sense of personal responsibility and expectations of other users remains limited. By theoretically foregrounding user perspective, this study investigates the boundaries and nuances of user responsibility to intervene against incivility. Empirically, it draws on 20 qualitative vignette interviews with young people in Germany. The findings show that as contexts collapse in users’ newsfeeds, the imagined boundaries of personal public spheres and own social relationships with uncivil users serve as heuristics for hierarchizing and delimiting personal responsibility to intervene. Beyond abstract individual responsibility for the public discourse, practical responsibility is distributed among personal public spheres.

Research paper thumbnail of What Makes a Good Citizen Online? The Emergence of Discursive Citizenship Norms in Social Media Environments

Social Media + Society

The importance of citizenship norms—shared understandings of how citizens ought to participate in... more The importance of citizenship norms—shared understandings of how citizens ought to participate in society—has been discussed at length in the past two decades, particularly in conversations around changing notions of citizenship in the digital age. Yet, most studies have gravitated between the two poles of dutiful and self-actualizing citizenship. In this study, we explore which citizenship norms people express related to their political participation in social media environments and which affordances and experiences in social media environments shape these norms. Through interviews and focus group discussions, we found that citizenship norms emerge in response to positive and negative experiences in social media environments. We found three groups of norms that are distinctive to the networked environments of social media: individual information care, discourse care, and considered contribution. These can serve as conceptual frames for understanding the normative underpinnings of d...

Research paper thumbnail of We and AI - Living in a Datafied World: Experiences & Attitudes of Young Europeans

This report allows insights not only into young Europeans' knowledge and perceptions of AI but al... more This report allows insights not only into young Europeans' knowledge and perceptions of AI but also into their ideas about future development and regulation of AI. The report dives into different spheres where AI is increasingly relevant and looks at AI as a general technology as well as in specific applications. As such, we worked with a broad definition of AI as algorithm-based technologies capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. We hope the data provided in the report will serve as a basis for future initiatives and research that may contribute to a positive development of AI applications in Europe.

Research paper thumbnail of “Intervening Is a Good Thing but . . .”: The Role of Social Norms in Users’ Justifications of (Non-)Intervention Against Incivility

Social Media + Society

User intervention against incivility as social enforcement of democratic norms on social media pl... more User intervention against incivility as social enforcement of democratic norms on social media platforms is considered an act of “good citizenship” by citizens and scholars alike. However, between ideals and behavior, multiple social norms are at play in shaping individuals’ sense of personal responsibility for intervening. This study explores the role of conflicting norms in situations requiring user intervention against online incivility. By combining the perspectives of norms as expectations and norms as cultural vocabularies, we investigate users’ salient norms, and how these norms influence users’ justifications for (non-)intervention. Based on qualitative interview data from Germany ( N = 20), we identified three distinct reasoning patterns employed to justify (non-)intervention: the pragmatic, the dismissive, and the aspirational. By identifying fault lines, our typology points to normative origins of ambivalence related to user intervention. The findings offer insights into ...

Research paper thumbnail of Datafication Markers: Curation and User Network Effects on Mobilization and Polarization During Elections

Media and Communication

Social media platforms are crucial sources of political information during election campaigns, wi... more Social media platforms are crucial sources of political information during election campaigns, with datafication processes underlying the algorithmic curation of newsfeeds. Recognizing the role of individuals in shaping datafication processes and leveraging the metaphor of news attraction, we study the impact of user curation and networks on mobilization and polarization. In a two-wave online panel survey (n = 943) conducted during the 2021 German federal elections, we investigate the influence of self-reported user decisions, such as following politicians, curating their newsfeed, and being part of politically interested networks, on changes in five democratic key variables: vote choice certainty, campaign participation, turnout, issue reinforcement, and affective polarization. Our findings indicate a mobilizing rather than polarizing effect of algorithmic election news exposure and highlight the relevance of users’ political networks on algorithmic platforms.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Who, if not me?’ How political self-categorizations shape the meaning of political self-expression on social media as a citizenship norm

Information, Communication & Society

Research paper thumbnail of Your social ties, your personal public sphere, your responsibility: How users construe a sense of personal responsibility for intervention against uncivil comments on Facebook

New Media & Society

User intervention against incivility is a significant element of democratic norm enforcement on s... more User intervention against incivility is a significant element of democratic norm enforcement on social media, and feeling personally responsible for acting is a vital prerequisite for intervention. However, our insight into how users construe their sense of personal responsibility and expectations of other users remains limited. By theoretically foregrounding user perspective, this study investigates the boundaries and nuances of user responsibility to intervene against incivility. Empirically, it draws on 20 qualitative vignette interviews with young people in Germany. The findings show that as contexts collapse in users’ newsfeeds, the imagined boundaries of personal public spheres and own social relationships with uncivil users serve as heuristics for hierarchizing and delimiting personal responsibility to intervene. Beyond abstract individual responsibility for the public discourse, practical responsibility is distributed among personal public spheres.

Research paper thumbnail of What Makes a Good Citizen Online? The Emergence of Discursive Citizenship Norms in Social Media Environments

Social Media + Society

The importance of citizenship norms—shared understandings of how citizens ought to participate in... more The importance of citizenship norms—shared understandings of how citizens ought to participate in society—has been discussed at length in the past two decades, particularly in conversations around changing notions of citizenship in the digital age. Yet, most studies have gravitated between the two poles of dutiful and self-actualizing citizenship. In this study, we explore which citizenship norms people express related to their political participation in social media environments and which affordances and experiences in social media environments shape these norms. Through interviews and focus group discussions, we found that citizenship norms emerge in response to positive and negative experiences in social media environments. We found three groups of norms that are distinctive to the networked environments of social media: individual information care, discourse care, and considered contribution. These can serve as conceptual frames for understanding the normative underpinnings of d...

Research paper thumbnail of We and AI - Living in a Datafied World: Experiences & Attitudes of Young Europeans

This report allows insights not only into young Europeans' knowledge and perceptions of AI but al... more This report allows insights not only into young Europeans' knowledge and perceptions of AI but also into their ideas about future development and regulation of AI. The report dives into different spheres where AI is increasingly relevant and looks at AI as a general technology as well as in specific applications. As such, we worked with a broad definition of AI as algorithm-based technologies capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. We hope the data provided in the report will serve as a basis for future initiatives and research that may contribute to a positive development of AI applications in Europe.