Research in the Research Unit Media and Public Spheres

The Media and Public Spheres division investigates the emergence, dissemination, use and impact of far-right extremist, right-wing populist, and anti-democratic communication and mobilization within networked digital public spheres.

Our research program focuses on media infrastructures, the role of platform functionalities, and their impact on public debates, mobilization strategies, and the manipulation of public opinion through disinformation, coordinated campaigns, and (trans)national networks. We also examine the dynamics of topic adaptation and diffusion in networked, hybrid public spheres.

We employ internationally comparative designs, consider political and media opportunity structures, and integrate multi-method and interdisciplinary perspectives. A key emphasis is the application and development of innovative computational social science methods for data collection and analysis.

The division’s research is structured around three core areas:

Media infrastructures and platform characteristics
Strategies and networks of mobilization
Discourses and dynamics of diffusion in hybrid public spheres

They are underpinned and linked by overarching theory development, methodological research, and infrastructure projects.

Research Projects

Identification and classification of radical and extremist actors on Telegram (IKreAT)

Project duration: 2025–2027. Project lead at IRex: Prof. Dr. Annett Heft.

In IKReaT, the project investigates how different methods for identifying and classifying radical and extremist actors on Telegram vary in terms of reliability and validity, and how various decisions made during identification and classification affect the resulting constellations of actors and content on the platform. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and jointly led by Prof. Dr. Annett Heft (University of Tübingen) and Dr. Pablo Jost (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz).

Right-wing immersion and commited publics

Project duration: March 2025–December 2027. Project lead: Prof. Dr. Tanja Thomas. Cooperation partners at IRex: Prof. Dr. Léonie de Jonge, PD Dr. Rolf Frankenberger, Prof. Dr. Annett Heft, Prof.*in Dr.*in Heike Radvan

The research project aims to conceptualise and systematically break down ‘right-wing immersion’. By this, we mean the process in which subjects get involved with right-wing worldviews or lifeworlds. Subsequently, we evaluate best-practice projects and develop a ‘response framework’ to promote democratic resilience.

Community Data Sprint: Onboarding data owners to the AVERA data trust (Com-DS)

Project duration: 2025–2026. Project lead at IRex: Prof. Dr. Annett Heft.

Com-DS aims to anchor the community data trust AVERA more firmly in the research community and increase its visibility. The joint sub-project of the University of Tübingen and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is led cooperatively by the Principal Investigators Dr. Pablo Jost and Prof. Dr. Annett Heft.