Dynamics of Energy Discussions on Twitter (2021–2023)

Maison Suger is pleased to host the first session of the seminar organised by GRETS, Dynamics of Energy Discussions on Twitter (2021–2023). Between Sectoral Arena and Public Space, with Mathieu Brugidou and Philippe Suignard (EDF R&D). The session will be introduced by Jérémy Bouillet (EDF R&D).

Studying the formation of collective choices regarding the electricity mix now increasingly requires looking at digital public spaces. For EDF, it is essential to understand the dynamics of public conversations that contribute to the shaping of collective choices.

Computational social sciences, at the intersection of social sciences, digital sciences and data science, provide concepts and tools drawn from AI development to analyse these public conversations. A series of studies conducted at EDF’s Research and Development department has aimed to implement this programme, focusing in particular on the early 2020s.

From 2021 to 2023, discussions on the energy mix on Twitter were particularly intense, driven by several electoral sequences and later by the war in Ukraine and its consequences. This extended period, which saw energy issues emerge prominently in the digital debate, offers an opportunity to analyse politicisation dynamics, rarely studied over such time spans for the same public issue.

The study considers 5 million tweets devoted to civil nuclear energy and renewable energies.

The analysis highlights the hybrid nature of this arena, comprising:

• political competition actors (elected officials);
• sectoral actors (energy professionals, domain experts, specialised associations…);
• ordinary citizens.

The research also focuses on statements of denunciation. Machine-learning methods show that the grammar of denunciation is common across all types of speakers.

Analysis of politicisation dynamics demonstrates that the transformation of communities and their statements shifts this discussion space from the semi-obscured quasi-sectoral arena to the brightly illuminated stage of the public sphere.

• Mathieu Brugidou: Senior researcher at EDF R&D and associate researcher at PACTE-CNRS. His work focuses on defining and addressing energy issues in public debate and on the effects of digitalisation of the public sphere, both on debate platforms and social networks.
• Philippe Suignard: Expert researcher at EDF R&D. His current work focuses on using large language models (LLMs) to process and analyse EDF’s textual data (emails, meeting reports, technical documents, social media, etc.).