War or peace tweets? The case of Pakistan

This study explores the application of social media in a violent conflict and examines the role that Twitter can play in communicative processes in light of peacebuilding practices. It bridges a gap in communication research by conducting a war/peace framing analysis on Twitter regarding the second deadliest terrorist attack in Pakistan. Our results challenge the idealistic perspectives of peace communication scholars, who predicted that digital platforms would lead to a strong peace framing approach. Similar to traditional media, the tweets were dominated by war frames. Results also showed the amount of war and peace indicators varied over time. Further, findings suggest the narrative that ultimately failed to highlight a peace framework, was largely shaped by local events and the power of traditional stakeholders.