Accession Number:

AD1157345

Title:

Detection and Analysis of Online Extremist Communities

Descriptive Note:

[Technical Report, Doctoral Thesis]

Corporate Author:

CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA

Personal Author(s):

• Benigni, Matthew C.

Report Date:

2017-05-01

Pagination or Media Count:

143

Abstract:

Online social networks have become a powerful venue for political activism. In many cases large, insular online communities form that have been shown to be powerful diffusion mechanisms of both misinformation and propaganda. In some cases these groups users advocate actions or policies that could be construed as extreme along nearly any distribution of opinion, and are thus called Online Extremist Communities OECs. Although these communities appear increasingly common, little is known about how these groups form or the methods used to influence them. The work in this thesis provides researchers a methodological framework to study these groups by answering three critical research questions How can we detect large dynamic online activist or extremist communities What automated tools are used to build, isolate, and influence these communities What methods can be used to gain novel insight into large online activist or extremist communities

Descriptors:

Subject Categories:

• Information Science

Distribution Statement:

[A, Approved For Public Release]