Understanding online attention spikes related to states and non-state groups: A convergence of second-level agenda setting and proto-state media theories

Building on previous second-level agenda theory and the factors that attract online attention to militant proto-states (ISIS and al-Qaeda), this study determines how predictable attributes align with online attention to states (Russia and China) and non-state groups (far-left and far-right). It identifies six years of Google Trends attention spikes for states and non-state groups that simultaneously spike international news items cataloged in the Nexis-Uni database. A quantitative content analysis evaluates the content of news items around the timing of the spikes to test the relationship with the definitional components of militant proto-states. The findings reveal the proto-state attributes do align for both state and non-state groups, but the degree of emphasis varies based on whether the object was a state or non-state group, and at times, by which state or non-state served as the focus of the international news items.