How social media users adopt the toxic behaviors of
ingroup and outgroup accounts

How social media users adopt the toxic behaviors of
ingroup and outgroup accounts

Toxicity, toxic speech, incivility, contagion, social media, Social Identity Theory, computational content analysis

While the spread of toxicity on social media has received ample attention, studies offer conflicting expectations and mixed evidence about its
contagious nature. This study advances understanding of how toxicity becomes contagious by distinguishing between exposure to toxicity by
ingroup versus outgroup members and separating toxicity into impolite style and intolerant substance. We focus on Israel during 2023, a period
marked by intense political polarization. Using Twitter panel data from original and replication datasets, we analyze �1M tweets from 12,481
users and �6M tweets from the 713,231 accounts they follow. We find that exposure to toxic behavior by ingroup members is the primary
driver of contagious toxicity, compared to smaller, less consistent associations with outgroup toxicity. Moreover, seemingly less harmful forms
of toxicity (impoliteness) by the ingroup are not only associated with increased users’ impoliteness but also with increased intolerance toward
political groups—which may carry troubling implications for democracies.

Alon Zoizner�1 and Avraham Levy1

https://watermark02.silverchair.com/zmaf018.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA1MwggNPBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggNAMIIDPAIBADCCAzUGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMwLCzGvip_ZnYx413AgEQgIIDBm1yK98WlkccVEifKlmzO1aKMZqr_JtkqTbytoWke8aE6kD0TBuX-lRzBoHFG1ALtCaUsl3960ejvu-_P4fqK_aCjH-v6JHCPleb24gJtMsq9brQ0Ry4O7XeciAeNS5GKJdeU9ZGGIYlw8jM84rEtZHIKoksGrEHPKMeFMQuOt_a5QoRoR6oX6ePecbeO8z3JkZUG-WFL6EZXLqDrkARdVDFdi-8iZazrniP9yqOY_WMv0vj_aFDV_-58L3iV-4vK4HyoTbW-yA5RMkSUe630UF7Bxm_MLY9YaiehWxTX-Ne7lhg4WIKSxBihnNsziKzv6iqeEjPA3bsfMki7d6vytAj0AvvHeq_Xbs9nYsMICSiczBy8G4bk1IWnczwThn4zKJA0P5kwHRkMMUhHL7TozkFHhvspRIkUy1CVJaMwteWEzdFxLBPAylfhoEC4f1qvii0Cuy-4C2C-beF5g8ALYuFhE-J7NoHLDRWsAqDl6piI_M6cTvihfDF8RePyOf8-bujYTo_MU4fTVaNs1or2qS3KMJzbQFMRuDL8WfUwwGP_Izj6ojs0ATVugeAzop9FE69b6VkBVrOnGhjGhGZUBCmO38aaAUiiC7b_ma6hra3Q25vLsslFvan9_dntVwLkV1n8hWaVQlHU7r5XbcQ8matxBmPi77QnHJ9uwVvudWldYXNu7b15GqC5Ih_h5wJGORrmORqETMySKP1pLnV-mF55ZsUgGitvXQ619ttfGNofoSN9YWDrzJjGZYPWKjIV65z7N6KKgLdBOysATNEjtP-bmlm6jeCMdxX3CXhcfUYXfC6q8Y7LsqqrQMb5RjzErolK2EtOsAUdfedIitS8ax9x9xCiC85WZZ_amGRwU1zu9AgwuqZSaZ8O8TJu9ZaUPAq3bdZDHsAVfrea4ATTwDf5lh40nxwa1FKOVpo6D4eBQnOOm3EwYB9fGeEsW35Ebuc-vRxFpNwRNBtlX15bryfnoYUXYwT9X_2q6z3LcT4D85VABB2SRHKWtMDclUiyU3PNJQPFQ

OXFORD ACADEMIC

5 SEPTEMBER 2025

FAJAR BAGUS W

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