"Despite increased academic attention’s focus on conspiracy theories on Telegram, existing research has two major limitations: (1) a lack of combined examination of the distribution and reception of conspiracy theories, and (2) insufficient understanding of the relationship between the reception o ... f conspiracy messages and political attitudes, conspiracy beliefs, or political engagement. To address these gaps, our study adopts a two-pronged approach, linking the distribution and reception of conspiracy theories and mobilization calls on Telegram while exploring the implications for recipients’ conspiracy beliefs and protest behavior. Our research design includes a manual content analysis of 3,162 Telegram posts from German conspiracy-related channels (Study 1), and a survey of 318 Telegram users in these channels and 320 traditional media users (Study 2). Our results reveal characteristics of Telegram fringe group users that make them susceptible to conspiratorial and mobilizing content, such as anti-system attitudes and a readiness for protest behavior. These findings have broader implications for understanding the role of digital media in the spread of conspiracy theories and the mobilization of resistance during crises, as well as the importance of continued research on the relationship between digital media use, political attitudes, and engagement to mitigate the negative impacts of conspiracy theories and preserve democratic values." (Abstract) more

"The role of algorithms for producing and curating content as well as potential outcomes of these mechanisms is one of the most debated issues in existing communication research. “Communicating algorithms” affect processes of political, social and interpersonal communication. A broad variety of ... communication fields is thus currently touched on by algorithms, ranging from news exposure, public opinion forming, information retrieval, and political communication processes among others. However, a scientific sound and objective consideration of algorithms as actors in digital (mass) communication is still scarce. The special issue “Algorithms and Communication” addresses this research gap. It presents theoretical as well as empirical results in important fields of communication science, such as media literacy, news aggregation or robotics. With this, it aims to shed light on the black-box of algorithms as “hidden actors” in communication processes." (Abstract) more