Rethinking Community Building in the Age of Digital Echo Chambers: A Qualitative Study of Peacebuilding Challenges in the Social Media Era
Institutional Affiliation
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Start Date
January 2026
End Date
January 2026
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Format
On-campus
Proposal Description
While Facebook and other social media platforms have long championed their role in “building global communities,” the lived reality of these digital spaces reveals a complex and often troubling dynamic. Far from fostering inclusive and healthy dialogues, many online communities have become echo chambers amplifying hate, deepening polarization, and providing fertile ground for violent extremism. As young people turn to social media platforms not only for connection but also for identity, belonging, and political mobilization, peacebuilding practitioners are confronted with unprecedented challenges.
This research aimed to critically examine the notion of community building in the age of social media and assess the applicability of traditional peacebuilding frameworks within these new digital realities. This study draws on in-depth qualitative interviews with peacebuilding practitioners from diverse contexts to explore how they are navigating the shift from physical to virtual community engagement for building peace and transforming conflicts.
The preliminary findings of this study reveal that conventional community-building strategies in peace processes often fall short in the social media spheres. The dynamics of these online communities, such as algorithmic bias, culprit anonymity, and rapid dissemination of misinformation, are fundamentally different from those of offline spaces. Hence, this study challenges both scholars and practitioners to rethink what "community" means in the digital age. The research also uncovers a pressing gap in institutional support and training for peacebuilders working in digital spaces, alongside calls for stronger collaborations between tech companies and the peacebuilding sector.
This study urges a critical reexamination of peacebuilding methodologies and highlights the importance of co-creating new approaches that are responsive to the realities of online social ecosystems. Practitioners emphasize the urgent need to develop new digital literacy frameworks, ethical engagement guidelines, and platform-specific strategies that prioritize inclusion, empathy, and conflict sensitivity. As we look ahead, the path to sustainable peace will require not just adapting old tools but reimagining community itself for a hyperconnected, digital world.
Rethinking Community Building in the Age of Digital Echo Chambers: A Qualitative Study of Peacebuilding Challenges in the Social Media Era
While Facebook and other social media platforms have long championed their role in “building global communities,” the lived reality of these digital spaces reveals a complex and often troubling dynamic. Far from fostering inclusive and healthy dialogues, many online communities have become echo chambers amplifying hate, deepening polarization, and providing fertile ground for violent extremism. As young people turn to social media platforms not only for connection but also for identity, belonging, and political mobilization, peacebuilding practitioners are confronted with unprecedented challenges.
This research aimed to critically examine the notion of community building in the age of social media and assess the applicability of traditional peacebuilding frameworks within these new digital realities. This study draws on in-depth qualitative interviews with peacebuilding practitioners from diverse contexts to explore how they are navigating the shift from physical to virtual community engagement for building peace and transforming conflicts.
The preliminary findings of this study reveal that conventional community-building strategies in peace processes often fall short in the social media spheres. The dynamics of these online communities, such as algorithmic bias, culprit anonymity, and rapid dissemination of misinformation, are fundamentally different from those of offline spaces. Hence, this study challenges both scholars and practitioners to rethink what "community" means in the digital age. The research also uncovers a pressing gap in institutional support and training for peacebuilders working in digital spaces, alongside calls for stronger collaborations between tech companies and the peacebuilding sector.
This study urges a critical reexamination of peacebuilding methodologies and highlights the importance of co-creating new approaches that are responsive to the realities of online social ecosystems. Practitioners emphasize the urgent need to develop new digital literacy frameworks, ethical engagement guidelines, and platform-specific strategies that prioritize inclusion, empathy, and conflict sensitivity. As we look ahead, the path to sustainable peace will require not just adapting old tools but reimagining community itself for a hyperconnected, digital world.