Divisive Social Movement on Social Media: Examining #ADOS

This exploratory study examined Twitter content addressing the controversial social advocacy movement, American Descendants of Slavery. We collected 1.7 million tweets using the hashtag #ADOS. A sample of these were qualitatively placed into categories: galvanizing support for ADOS, divisive support for ADOS, attack ADOS, or unrelated. Tweets were also categorized as nativist or not nativist. Findings showed that more than half of tweets using #ADOS had a divisive character and nearly ten percent were overtly nativist. No difference was found in user engagement with tweets related to either divisiveness or nativist content, suggesting the character of these tweets is not devised simply for greater amplification of their message. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.