Researchers from the Crime and Security Research Institute (CSRI), Diyana Dobreva and Daniel Grinnell, will present their recent paper “Prophets and Loss: How “Soft Facts” on Social Media Influenced the Brexit Campaign and Social Reactions to the Murder of Jo Cox MP” as part of our lunchtime seminar series.
Their presentation will examine how and why a series of “soft facts”, such as rumours, conspiracy theories, and propaganda, took hold during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign. They also develop the concept of “digital prophecy,” exploring how influence is exerted by online prophets who were connecting current events to past grievances, to advance negative predictions about the future. In policy terms, the analysis reminds us of the need to attend not just to how influence is achieved through fake news (e.g. using social media bots to amplify a message), but also why influence is sought in the first place.
The study itself was informed by empirical data comprising 45,957 data points collected by monitoring social media before and after the UK Brexit referendum campaign.
Speaker Biographies
Diyana Dobreva - Crime and Security Research Institute, Cardiff University
Daniel Grinnell - Crime and Security Research Institute, Cardiff University
When: Thursday 20th June 2019, 12:30pm - 13:30pm
Where: Meeting Room 2.13, CSRI, Level 2, Friary House, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff, CF10 3AE
Contact: [email protected]
This event is open to Cardiff University staff and students. Please complete the registration form below to reserve your place.