The Influence of the Vocal Few: Evidence from Social Media Comments

Dante Donati and Lena Song

No 13018, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Online comment sections let a small number of vocal individuals reach far beyond their own networks. We conduct a large-scale field experiment on Facebook that randomizes the presence and stance of comments beneath posts for a racial justice organization, reaching around one million U.S. users. Opposing comments increase reactions, comments, and link clicks by 15–43 percent relative to no comments, whereas supportive comments have little effect. A complementary survey experiment shows that similar opposing comments make attitudes less progressive and reduce donations to the organization. Through a common feature of online platforms, the vocal few can exert outsized influence.

Keywords: social media; comments; user-generated content; social influence; field experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D72 D83 D91 J15 L82 L86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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