New publication! We present our multi-modal, multi-platform R software for analyzing coordinated networks—designed to remain resilient to ongoing changes in data access and to offer analytical flexibility—in the paper “CooRTweet: A Generalized R Software for Coordinated Network Detection“, now out in Computational Communication Research. Free access here: https://doi.org/10.5117/CCR2025.1.7.RIGH.

Although CooRTweet is a relatively new tool, its development is rooted in earlier academic work and shaped by several key collaborations. Building on the experience of the CooRnet R package for detecting coordinated link sharing on Facebook—developed with Fabio Giglietto and Luca Rossi—and the methodology introduced in our paper It Takes a Village to Manipulate the Media, the project began at the University of Vienna as part of a doctoral research I co-supervised at the Department of Communication. It initially focused on Twitter data for the study Protest and Repression on Social Media, co-authored with Aytalina Kulichkina and Annie Waldherr. The tool later evolved into a more efficient, multi-modal, multi-platform version through collaboration with Paul Balluff.

The paper CooRTweet: A Generalized R Software for Coordinated Network Detection, introduces the tool from a methodological perspective. Built on a minimal and abstract definition of coordination, CooRTweet enables the detection of both explicit and organic coordinated behavior across platforms and content types—including shared texts, images, and combined media. Its architecture is designed to support cross-platform analysis, making it possible to trace coordination not only within a single platform but also across different digital environments, preserving the broader context in which information flows. The tool retains the full context network in which coordinated activity takes place, making it possible to study not only coordination itself but also its influence on the broader communication environment. Another key feature is its flexible threshold settings, which allow researchers to calibrate sensitivity depending on the research context and objectives. The paper also reflects on the importance of developing adaptable tools for social media research in the face of shifting data access.

The tool has been recently integrated into the Horizon project Vera AI project, which I joined after returning to the University of Urbino Carlo Bo (Italy). It now powers the Coordinated Sharing Detection Service for fact-checkers and data journalists (https://coortweet.lab.atc.gr), which I recently had the pleasure of presenting at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) workshop to over 60 professionals, including journalists, data journalists, fact-checkers, disinformation analysts, and NGO officials working to counter misinformation and coordinated inauthentic behavior. The tool will also be the focus of an upcoming workshop for EBU members.

Recently, we used CooRTweet to analyze the CitizenGO organization’s gender-critical and conservative content propagation networks in the paper Mainstreaming and Transnationalization of Anti-Gender Ideas Through Social Media: The Case of CitizenGO.

The working paper Investigating Transnational Communication on Social Media is now available on OSF.

This paper was presented and discussed at the workshop titled Transnationalization of the Far-Right, held at The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, Bologna, Italy, on Tuesday, April 8th, 2025. It marks the beginning of an effort to systematically conceptualize and operationalize the study of transnational communication on social media.

You can read the working paper on OSF at the following link: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/e3cwd_v1.

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with Phillip Ayoub and Kristina Stoeckl on their influential work, “The Global Fight Against Lgbti Rights: How Transnational Conservative Networks Target Sexual and Gender Minorities” (NYU Press). This project involved creating data visualizations that captured the analytical and communicative intent of the authors, starting from relatively complex datasets. The process, which included rigorous qualitative reviews by NYU editors, was both challenging and rewarding.

Visualizing the networks on the maps was challenging due to the relatively high number of nodes and relationships. Finding the right combination of graphical elements to allow for a clear representation required evaluating a variety of alternatives. I used R with rnaturalearth and the ggplot2 function geom_sf().

Visualizing the roles of actors and organizations in the various World Congress of Families required combining visual and analytical logic. The decision was made to position actors and organizations with a more constant presence at the base, visually emphasizing their foundational role in the events, with others gradually placed in higher positions. The use of color transparency further highlights both the constant presence (represented by less transparent colors) and the fluctuating or occasional presence (represented by higher transparency) at the events. For this purpose, I used a heatmap with the geom_tile() function in ggplot2. All data preprocessing and visualizations were done in R.

The paper “CooRTweet: A Generalized R Software for Coordinated Network Detection” (Righetti & Balluff) describing our CooRTweet software, has been accepted for publication on Computational Communication Research and will soon be available in the journal. The pre-print version is available on OSF: https://osf.io/zya2x_v3/

[Note added April 17, 2025] In the past few days, this blog post has received an unusual spike in visits, linked to distribution via a mailing list I was able to trace. I also received a violent and hateful email, sent from a mobile iPhone app and an IP address I identified and reported to the Italian and Austrian authorities. I stand by the scientific work discussed here and will not tolerate coordinated online harassment, threats, or intimidation. Academic dialogue and dissent — as well as support for any moral values — must be grounded in reason, not hate.

[Original blog post] My latest work, now online in Information, Communication & Society, explores how social media is used to amplify moral conservative advocacy in the digital space.

In the paper “Mainstreaming and Transnationalization of Anti-Gender Ideas through Social Media: The Case of CitizenGO”, along with an international group of talented young researchers, we examine how major social media platforms like Facebook serve as powerful tools for disseminating and globalizing radical ‘anti-gender’ ideas. Despite the growing transnational appeal of these ideas, the role of digital networks in this process remains largely underexplored. By analyzing a decade of multilingual social media activity (2013–2022) from the leading conservative organization CitizenGO using advanced computational methods, we shed light on key strategies that drive the digital presence of the anti-gender agenda.

Our findings reveal that CitizenGO strategically employs a diverse array of social media accounts to coordinate and amplify moral-conservative messages across different languages and regions. An amplification network sharing their content also facilitates their rapid transnational expansion.

For those interested in a deeper dive into our research, you can read the full paper here.

Righetti, N., Kulichkina, A., Almeida Paroni, B., Cseri, Z. F., Aguirre, S. I., & Maikovska, K. (2025). Mainstreaming and transnationalization of anti-gender ideas through social media: the case of CitizenGO. Information, Communication & Society, 1–24. doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2025.2470229

The paper Rethinking Veganism in the Digital Age. Innovating Methodology and Typology to Explore a Decade of Facebook Discourses is now published on Sociological Research Online, a journal of the British Sociological Association. The paper can be read on the journal website or, if you don’t have access, you can access and download the accepted version at this link.

In this paper we analyze 200,000 posts published on Facebook pages and groups mentioning veganism, articulating a typology of social media functions for veganism.

In addition, we develop a critical methodological reflection on the limitations and potential of “big data” for studying the phenomenon.

The report of the research project MINE-GE: Mapping Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior in the Lead Up to the 2021 German Federal Election has been released. During the project, which was funded by Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein Westfalen, we collected over 13,000 Facebook Ads, 2.5 million political posts, and 1.8 Million URLs shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by parties, candidates, and other social media users in the six weeks up to the election day, to monitor political social media communication, detect coordinated networks and analyze possible micro-targeting strategies.

The report is available in English and German on the website of Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein Westfalen at the following links:

• English version: Righetti, N., Giglietto, F., Kakavand, A.E., Kulichkina, A., Marino, G., Terenzi, M. (2022). POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT AND COORDINATED BEHAVIOR ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE LEAD-UP TO THE 2021 GERMAN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.
• German version: Righetti, N., Giglietto, F., Kakavand, A.E., Kulichkina, A., Marino, G., Terenzi, M. (2022). POLITISCHE WERBUNG UND KOORDINIERTES VERHALTEN IN SOZIALEN MEDIEN IM VORFELD DER BUNDESTAGSWAHL 2021.