Connected but Divided: Affective Publics and the Clash of Communities on Croatian Reddit in the Context of the 2024 Elections

Tamara Kunić · Luka Šikić

Medijska istraživanja, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 31–54

This study examines Croatian Reddit communities during the 2024 parliamentary and European Parliament elections using 11,503 comments collected from March to June 2024. Network, sentiment, and topic analyses reveal structurally distinct communities discussing many of the same issues in different emotional climates. A small group of highly active connectors bridges these communities while also intensifying their divisions, showing how cohesion and conflict coexist in Croatian digital publics.

Original scientific article with an open interactive companion project.

@Article{kunic_connected_2026,
  author  = {Tamara Kunić and Luka Šikić},
  title   = {Connected but Divided: Affective Publics and the Clash of Communities on Croatian Reddit in the Context of the 2024 Elections},
  journal = {Medijska istraživanja},
  year    = {2026},
  volume  = {32},
  number  = {1},
  pages   = {31--54},
  doi     = {10.22572/mi.32.1.2},
  url     = {https://hrcak.srce.hr/347942}
}