Description
Narratives have a significant role in times of conflict, as they help members of societies in conflict to cope with the consequences of the conflict, such as stress, fear, loss, and uncertainty. It provides justification and explanations to the conflict, its eruption, dynamic, their own society, the rival’s society, and the desired solution (Bar-Tal 2007, 2013). However, due to its functionality, it also fuels the continuation of the conflict, and become a barrier to end it.
As one of the channels for constructing and disseminating those narratives, social media platforms lower the threshold for public to access the public sphere, which allows anyone to create, share and access content online (Chadwick, 2017; Stasi, 2020). As a result, dominant actors and hegemonic narratives can be challenged by alternative actors with fewer resources and visibility (Fuchs, 2010).
Analysis of social media content in Israel, following the attacks by Hamas on 7th of October had an incredible magnitude effect on Israelis’ narrative of conflict. Yet, if there are alternative voices, they are more likely to appear on social media.
