Paper Type
ERF
Abstract
Intense competition on social media drives news publishers to produce polarized coverage that shapes public interpretations of climate disasters. Prior research typically examines this influence through either networks of issue attributes or static sets of framing devices. Integrating these perspectives, we conceptualize frame packages as dynamic, tri-dimensional networks comprising manifest, narrative, and expressive devices. To empirically capture these packages, we develop a GenAI-augmented computational framework and analyze social media coverage of Hurricane Ian and the 2022 U.S. Western wildfires. Preliminary findings show that consensus and skeptical publishers deploy divergent manifest patterns that restrict connectivity to ideologically aligned peers. This fragmenting discourse enhances the risk of echo chambers rather than fostering pluralistic engagement. This study advances digital framing and social media network theory by demonstrating how the systematic divergence of frame-package networks operates as a central mechanism of social media–induced polarization.
Paper Number
1667
Recommended Citation
Liang, Weimin; Dissanayake, Indika; and Tarafdar, Monideepa, "Tri-Dimensional Frame Packages in Polarized Climate Disaster Discourse" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/social_comput/social_comput/5
Tri-Dimensional Frame Packages in Polarized Climate Disaster Discourse
Intense competition on social media drives news publishers to produce polarized coverage that shapes public interpretations of climate disasters. Prior research typically examines this influence through either networks of issue attributes or static sets of framing devices. Integrating these perspectives, we conceptualize frame packages as dynamic, tri-dimensional networks comprising manifest, narrative, and expressive devices. To empirically capture these packages, we develop a GenAI-augmented computational framework and analyze social media coverage of Hurricane Ian and the 2022 U.S. Western wildfires. Preliminary findings show that consensus and skeptical publishers deploy divergent manifest patterns that restrict connectivity to ideologically aligned peers. This fragmenting discourse enhances the risk of echo chambers rather than fostering pluralistic engagement. This study advances digital framing and social media network theory by demonstrating how the systematic divergence of frame-package networks operates as a central mechanism of social media–induced polarization.
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