This dissertation explores how media outlets and average Americans employsocial media platforms like Twitter to instigate public discourse in response to
decision-making by the United States Supreme Court. Leveraging data mining,
machine learning, and ideal point estimation techniques, my research provides
novel contributions toward discerning the theoretical motivations underpinning
strategic media framing behaviors and the capacity for the public to engage
in discourse online. I find that social media facilitates ideologically driven behaviors
as a reflection of predisposed beliefs, perceptions of trends in the justices’
decision-making, and strategic media behaviors.
