The project addresses the question of how social media influencing shape democratic trust and societal security in the Nordic region? It has two main objectives:
- Advance understanding of how antagonistic social media influencing affects democratic trust and societal security – particularly among young people in vulnerable communities.
- Develop strategies to counter harmful online influencing and strengthen democratic resilience, including exploring ways to engage influencers as allies in defending democratic values.
- We introduce the concept of participatory antagonism – a collective communication practice where influencers and followers co-create content that challenges democratic values and social cohesion. This perspective moves beyond viewing influencers as isolated opinion leaders, says project leader Cecilia Cassinger, Associate professor at the Department of Communication, Lund University.
Cassinger will lead the project together with Drs Isabelle Karlsson, Nils Gustafsson, Monica Porzionato, and colleagues at Copenhagen Business School and the University of Helsinki. The team will examine social media influencing as a form of collective political action that operates outside traditional institutions.
Ultimately, INFLU-NORD aims to deliver new theoretical insights, inform policy, and develop practical strategies to counter antagonistic online influencing—while unlocking the democratic potential of digital participation in an era of hybrid threats.
Read more about the project and the NordForsk call “Antagonistic threats challenging societal security in the Nordic and Baltic countries” here: