Examining the echo chambers of countermovements to black lives matter on Twitter

This research examines the changes in echo chambers formed by individuals with similar beliefs in opposition movements from their emergence to the present day. In this context, the thesis compares the echo chambers of countermovements, including "All Lives Matter", "Blue Lives Matter", "Police Lives Matter", and "White Lives Matter", which emerged in opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement, between 2013 and 2022. Topic modeling and network analysis methods were used to define the echo chambers. With the use of these methods, the topics discussed in the echo chambers and the members belonging to these groups were easily identified. This allowed for the observation of changes in echo chambers from 2013 to 2022. In this study, changes in echo chambers were examined from two perspectives: the dominant topics in the echo chambers and the members of the echo chambers. The continuity, change, and differences between countermovements in terms of these two factors are the focal points of this study. Accordingly, the thesis demonstrates that there is an increasing trend in the number of echo chambers and their members during times of crisis. It also shows that the continuity of echo chambers differs, dominant topics have distinct seasonal trends, and the continuity of the echo chambers that contain both similar members and topics varies between countermovements.