Framing, Politics, & Solidarity on Twitter

In this project, we examined the prevalence and impact of bots in a Twitter network discussing the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections. Our findings suggest that bots can influence political discussion networks in several significant ways. By creating the appearance of a virtual community around far-right political messaging, obscuring the influence of traditional actors (i.e., media personalities, subject matter experts, etc.), and influencing network sentiment by amplifying pro-Trump messaging. The results of this analysis add to a growing body of literature on the use and impact of social bots while at the same time uniquely examining their effects framing conversations in non-electoral, political settings.