The Effects of Social Approval Signals on the Production of Online Hate: A Theoretical Explication
Joseph B. Walther
Abstract:This essay explicates a middle range theory to predict and explain the propagation and magnification of hate messages on social media. It builds upon an assumption that people post hate messages in order to garner signals of social approval from other social media users. It articulates specific propositions involving several constructs, including signals of social approval, disapproval, and sufficiency of social approval. Six derived hypotheses predict how these dynamics apply in certain contexts of social med… Show more
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