Research Article Open Access

The Ego Network of The Taliban on Social Media before and after Their Return to Power in Afghanistan

Abstract

This study explored the ego network of the Taliban’s most followed and most popular X/ Twitter account before and after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021. A total of N = 1650 unique tweets were quantitatively content analyzed for topic, target, tone, and frame. Our findings showed significant differences in the topics, targets, tone, and framings of the tweets before and after the Taliban’s return to power in the country, which suggest that the Taliban has shifted it discussions from war and former government to the Taliban as a government and international relations. The tone and frames of the posts or tweets also showed a significant shift from aggressive to neutral with frames of active agency.    

Andrew Willeford

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