Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X)

Hanke Sara (), Sicakkan Hakan G., Georges Van Wolleghem Pierre and Heiberger Raphael Heiko
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Hanke Sara: Institute for Social Science, 123173 University of Stuttgart , Stuttgart, Germany
Sicakkan Hakan G.: Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Georges Van Wolleghem Pierre: Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Heiberger Raphael Heiko: Institute for Social Science, 123173 University of Stuttgart , Stuttgart, Germany

Nonprofit Policy Forum, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 79-109

Abstract: Policy actors (PAs) like nongovernmental organizations, political parties or governmental institutions strategically communicate on social media to gain attention and thus influence the public agenda. We argue that networks of PAs engaged in the same issues (i.e., a PA’s peer network) are crucial to attracting the interest of a broad audience. Drawing on network theory, we posit that (i) ideological homophily, and (ii) the centrality and embeddedness in a PA’s peer network increase the attention received from all Twitter (now X) users. We investigate these premises by analyzing the European migration discourse on Twitter (2014–2020). The results of our study reveal that the centrality of PAs in their peer networks and ideologically similar relations considerably increase attention from the whole Twittersphere. These findings provide strong evidence that a PA’s role in its organizational peer network on social media governs the attention received in the overall discourse.

Keywords: Twitter/X attention; migration discourse; social network analysis; homophily (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1515/npf-2023-0126

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