Antifying Controversy on Social Media

Given their widespread diffusion, online social media have become increasingly important in the study of social phenomena such as peer influence, framing, bias, and controversy. Ultimately, we would like to understand how users perceive the world through the lens of their social media feed. However, before addressing these advanced application scenarios, we first need to focus on the fundamental yet challenging task of distinguishing whether a topic of discussion is controversial. Our work is motivated by interest in observing controversies at societal level, monitoring their evolution, and possibly understanding which issues become controversial and why.

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