Disconnective practices and partisan polarization: Persian Twitter’s fragmented public sphere

Abstract

This study examines disconnective behaviors and political polarization on Persian Twitter, highlighting block talk, selective avoidance, and political incivility. While Twitter’s role in polarization and fragmentation has been widely studied in Western democracies, non-Western countries like Iran remain underexplored. Using temporal and social network analysis of 226 million tweets and key events from 2019 to 2022, this research fills this gap by analyzing how Iranian users engage in blocking, unfollowing, and using vulgar language, contributing to a fragmented and polarized environment. Findings reveal that block talk and political incivility, as persistent behaviors, increase during political turmoil, exacerbating partisan polarization. These digital behaviors both reflect and amplify societal divisions, reducing trust and tolerance—key elements of democratic culture. By examining Persian Twitter as a public sphere where political actors shape discourse, this study offers insights into the broader implications of social media’s impact on political polarization in non-Western countries.