Do Users Adopt Extremist Beliefs from Exposure to Hateful Subreddits?

Do Users Adopt Extremist Beliefs from Exposure to Hateful Subreddits? | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Do Users Adopt Extremist Beliefs from Exposure to Hateful Subreddits? Matheus Schmitz, Goran Muric, Daniel Hickey, Keith Burghardt This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2740412/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Jan, 2024 Read the published version in Social Network Analysis and Mining → Version 1 posted 2 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social media offers an avenue for like-minded individuals to interact in ways that were previously not possible. Yet, it can also be a breeding ground for hate and extremism to spread. Despite research into hate speech on social media, its influence on users adopting extremist beliefs is less understood. In this study we use causal analysis to quantify extremist adoption resulting from users becoming active in hateful online communities known as \textit{subreddits}. Using an Interrupted Time Series research design, we compare users who became involved in hateful subreddits (treatment group) to those who did not (control group). This analysis is reproduced across ten different subreddits covering four different topics: Alt-Right, Racism, Sexism, Fat-Shaming. From these analyses we uncover a causal link between a user becoming active in a hateful community and using more hate speech both within hateful subreddits and across the wider platform. The results are consistent and replicate across communities. Our findings are tentative evidence that users adopt extremist ideas from exposure to hateful subreddits. Hate Speech Reddit Social Media Interrupted Time Series Regression Discontinuity Design Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SNAMSI.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Jan, 2024 Read the published version in Social Network Analysis and Mining → Version 1 posted Submission checks completed at journal 27 Mar, 2023 First submitted to journal 27 Mar, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2740412","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":186716950,"identity":"fa64b3cd-5c2b-4cfa-8f2b-f8e16fab91df","order_by":0,"name":"Matheus Schmitz","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Southern California","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matheus","middleName":"","lastName":"Schmitz","suffix":""},{"id":186716951,"identity":"57b12580-b180-439c-8abf-733f1a3018a0","order_by":1,"name":"Goran Muric","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Southern 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