Abstract

How do shared narratives emerge in decentralized online networks? Prior research using simplified group coordination tasks (e.g., face-naming) shows network structure shapes group consensus, but the underlying cognitive mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we examine how network structure influences the emergence and semantic content of shared narrative beliefs in experimental online social networks, using natural language processing measures and agent-based modeling. Media content with complex causal structure attenuates network structure effects by encouraging longer exploration of background knowledge. Yet network structure still shapes the narrative content communicated. An embedding-based narrative alignment measure shows that fully connected groups orient their interactions more toward communicating causes of an event, whereas locally connected networks emphasize the event’s …

Date

2026

Authors

J Hunter Priniski, Bryce Linford, Anna Hirschmann, Sai Krishna Venumuddala, Fred Morstatter, Nancy Rodriguez, P Jeffrey Brantingham, Hongjing Lu

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Volume

123

Issue

2

Pages

e2520483123

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences