Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate practices of argumentation on Twitter discussions about climate change.

Design/methodology/approach

Conversational threads were collected from the Twitter API. Fundamental concepts from argumentation theory and linking practices were operationalised through a coding schema for content analysis. Tweets were analysed in the context of the discussions and coded according to their argumentative approach, interaction type and argumentation stage. Linked and embedded sources were analysed in order to find how they were used in arguments, the plausibility and soundness of the message, the consistency and trustworthiness of the linked source and its adequacy with the target audience.

Findings

Among the interactions between arguers, this study found five typical practices and several patterns involving the dynamics of the conversations, the strategy of the argumentation and the linking practices. Although the rhetorical approach was prominent, the agreement was rarely achieved. The arguers used a variety of sources to justify or support their positions, often embedding non-textual content. These linking practices, together with the strategy adopted and the topics discussed, suggest the involvement of a multiple audience engaged in discussing ad lib scientific artefacts, topics and outputs.

Originality/value

While Twitter has been the focus for many research papers, the conversational threads have been given little attention so far. With the Twitter API making conversations more accessible for research, this paper does not only give insight into multiple audience group argumentation dynamics but also provides a method to study the conversations from an argumentation theory perspective.

中文翻译：

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在 Twitter 上辩论气候变化的辩论实践和模式

目的

本文的目的是调查关于气候变化的 Twitter 讨论中的争论实践。

设计/方法/途径

会话线程是从 Twitter API 收集的。来自论证理论和链接实践的基本概念通过内容分析的编码模式进行操作。推文在讨论的背景下进行分析，并根据他们的论证方法、互动类型和论证阶段进行编码。对链接源和嵌入源进行了分析，以了解它们在论证中的使用方式、信息的合理性和合理性、链接源的一致性和可信度及其对目标受众的充分性。

发现

在争论者之间的互动中，本研究发现了五种典型的做法和几种模式，涉及对话的动态、争论的策略和联系的做法。尽管修辞方法很突出，但很少达成协议。争论者使用各种来源来证明或支持他们的立场，通常嵌入非文本内容。这些联系实践，连同所采用的策略和讨论的主题，表明有多个受众参与讨论即兴科学制品、主题和输出。

原创性/价值

虽然 Twitter 一直是许多研究论文的焦点，但到目前为止，对话线程很少受到关注。通过 Twitter API 使对话更易于研究，本文不仅深入了解多个受众群体的论证动态，还提供了一种从论证理论的角度研究对话的方法。