Polarization in public opinion and politics: an analysis of the spanish animal welfare law in the context of X

Abstract

The analysis of conversation in X following the enactment of the so-called "Animal Welfare Law" in Spain, employing a methodology of Social Network Analysis (SNA) and inferential statistics, elucidates how users form communities expressing either support or opposition to this law through retweets. These communities are centered more around individual citizens rather than organizational entities, with no prominent presence of any specific public figure or political party. The predominant content, generating the highest level of interaction, exhibits a neutral-commercial character. No discernible differences are observed in engagement concerning the polarity or subjectivity of the message; however, variations are evident in terms of format, with animated GIFs receiving higher scores, along with posts lacking a URL. In conclusion, the data reveal user polarization without substantive debate between different communities or users, even within the same group.