Serial participants of social media climate discussion as a community of practice: a longitudinal network analysis

Serial participants of social media conversations are characterized by their sustained commitment to contentious politics. Previous research has mainly focused on the characteristics and motivations of individual serial participants. This study shifts attention to community level dynamics and applies the community of practice (CoP) theoretical framework to examine a group of serial participants who consistently tweeted about the issue of climate change over five years. Our findings reveal the patterns of structural evolution of the serial participant CoP, showing that a once loosely connected set of Twitter users have become more akin to a community of practice. With longitudinal network modeling, the study also reveals how status and hierarchies are established within this network. Our study also demonstrates the values of this CoP, showing that serial participants increased their connection with elites and diversify their connections through their participation.