As enthusiastic PhD candidates exploring the intersection of communication technology and movement, CCL members Azade Kakavand, Aytalina Kulichkina, and Frederik Henriksen had the privilege of sharing their insights at the Technology in Movement, Movement in Technology International Conference hosted by the University of Copenhagen. Let's delve into their modest yet meaningful contribution during this inspirational event.

Azade Kakavand presented her study titled "How do far right connect on social media? A comparative network analysis," where she explores the patterns of far-right connections on social media through a network analysis approach. By employing a comparative analysis, the study uncovers commonalities and differences in the online networking behaviors of far-right groups on different social media platforms. The findings provide insights into the structure and characteristics of these networks, shedding light on the mechanisms through which far-right actors present themselves and gain influence online.

According to her reflection on the event: "The TIMMIT conference was a great opportunity to discuss work related to the use of technologies in movements. I personally like such conferences that are focused on a topic. The presentations fit well together, and the following PhD Course gave me further opportunity to discuss our research in depth. All in all, it was a great conference experience."

Aytalina Kulichkina shared the findings of her research titled "Protest and repression on social media: The role of Twitter in pro-democracy and pro-regime coordination at the 2021 Russian protests," which investigated the role of Twitter communication in facilitating mobilization among pro-Navalny and pro-government Twitter users during the 2021 protests in Russia. Using time series and network analysis, she discovered differences, similarities, and causal interplay in mobilization and coordination efforts among users from both camps. The findings provide insights into the dynamic nature of online communication during periods of social unrest in an authoritarian context, highlighting the importance of studying dynamics at play. 

When reflecting on the conference, she says: "Participating in the TIMMIT 2023 Conference allowed us to engage with a diverse network of scholars, researchers, and students in the field of digitally mediated communication and political contention. It was a great opportunity to exchange ideas with fellow experts and learn from outstanding keynote speeches and presentations. I am truly grateful to be part of this vibrant and dynamic academic community, and I look forward to future joint events and potential collaborations that will further advance the field."

Frederik Henriksen discussed the results of his study titled "Far Right Mainstreaming: Classifying Far Right Discourse and Anti-System Stance in Digital Alternative News Environments (2019-2022) with Multilingual Language Models" where he investigated mainstreaming of far right discourse and anti-system stance in digital alternative news environments. Using multilingual transformer models, he classified a large collection of digital trace data to explore how extremist content, beliefs, and ideologies gain traction and become more prevalent in online counterpublics. The findings shed light on the ways in which such content is shared, amplified, and potentially contributing to polarization and radicalization in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. 

Here is his impression of the conference: "It was a pleasure to attend the conference and present my recent work on far-right mainstreaming in digital alternative news media environments. I personally learned a lot from listening to and having coffee break discussions with scholars engaging in challenging and important research on social movements from cross-platform perspectives. I would also like to highlight some of the very interesting keynotes and the follow-up PhD course, where I had the chance to meet, give and receive feedback from PhD students engaged in fields other than mine. And to be fair, beautiful Copenhagen is a pretty nice location for such an event!"

As we reflect on the CCL team's participation in the TIMMIT 2023 Conference, we extend our sincere gratitude to the University of Copenhagen and the organizers of the TIMMIT 2023 Conference for providing a platform to amplify the voices and expertise of our CCL members. We hope that the connections made and ideas shared during the conference will inspire them to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge and driving innovation in the field. 

Stay tuned for more updates from the Computational Communication Science Lab as they continue to explore the fascinating intersections of technology, communication, and movement.