Mobilizing Emotion, Not Knowledge
May 2019
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
MERLYNA LIM
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and Global Network Society
Mobilizing Emotion, Not Knowledge
As Canada prepares for a federal election, Canada Research Chair Professor Merlyna Lim is analyzing how social media users鈥攈uman and otherwise鈥攁re mobilizing emotions rather than facts.
In the months leading up to the Canadian election, Facebook accounts with names like 鈥淭rudeau Has Got To Go鈥, 鈥淥verthrow Trudeau鈥, and Justin Trudeau is an Idiot鈥 focus on ridiculing the Prime Minister.
On the opposite end of the political spectrum are accounts attacking Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, with names such as 鈥淎ndrew Scheer Is An Idiot鈥, 鈥淪cheer Nonsense鈥, and 鈥淪chmeer 2019鈥.
Political cartoons and jokes are an age-old tradition. But Communication and Media Studies Professor Merlyna says that in the age of social media, hateful speech and misinformation spreads incredibly quickly鈥攊ntensifying the polarization within politics.