First Monday is one of the first openly accessible, peer–reviewed journals solely devoted to research about the Internet. First Monday has published 1,806 papers in 270 issues, written by 2,515 different authors, over the past 22 years. No subscription fees, no submission fees, no advertisements, no fundraisers, no walls.
 | This month: November 2018 Weaponizing the haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation Political discourse on social media is seen by many as polarized, vitriolic and permeated by falsehoods and misinformation. Political operators have exploited all of these aspects of the discourse for strategic purposes. This study examines a collection of tweets relating to a much-publicized fan dispute over the Star Wars franchise film Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. This study finds evidence of deliberate, organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments. Of the critics who address The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson directly on Twitter to express their dissatisfaction, more than half were bots, trolls/sock puppets or political activists using the debate to propagate political messages supporting extreme right-wing causes and the discrimination of gender, race or sexuality. |
 | Also this month Scholars’ temporal participation on, temporary disengagement from, and return to Twitter This research examines how academics’ use Twitter over time and examines why academics temporarily disengage and return to the social media platform. Twitter use is predominantly connected to traditional work hours and is well-integrated into professional endeavors. Though scholars rarely announce their departure from or return to Twitter, approximately half of this study’s participants took some kind of a break from Twitter. Although users returned to Twitter for both professional and personal reasons, conferences and workshops were found to be significant events stimulating the return of academic users. |