Scientific Appearance in Telegram

This paper examines the influence of scientific appearance (SA) on post dissemination and analyses a dataset of important actors in Germany, specifically those involved in the dissemination of disinformation on the social media platform Telegram. SA is identified through textual elements such as predefined keywords or digital object identifiers (DOIs). Characteristics and behaviours of actors with and without SA are compared using metadata such as forward counts and original posts. The additional content analysis provides insights into SA's usage and impact. The findings indicate that SA may influence the dissemination of posts and demonstrate how different methods can be applied for studying social media platforms.