In the political arena of social platforms, opposing factions of varying sizes show asymmetrical patterns, and elites and masses within these groups have divergent motivations and influence,challenging simplistic views of polarization. Yet, existing methods for quantifying polarization reduce division to a single value, assuming uniform distribution of polarization online. While this approach can confirm the observed increase in political polarization in many societies, it overlooks complexities that could explain this phenomenon. Notably, opposing groups can have unequal impacts on polarization, and the literature shows division between elites and the masses is a critical factor to consider. We propose a method to decompose existing polarization measures in order to quantify the role of groups, determined by these distinct hierarchies, in the total polarization value. We applied this method to polarized topics in the Finnish Twittersphere surrounding the 2019 and 2023parliamentary elections. Our analysis reveals two key insights: 1) The impact of opposing groups on observed polarization is rarely balanced, and 2) while elites strongly contribute to structural polarization and consistently display greater alignment across various topics, the masses have also recently experienced a surge in issue alignment, a stronger form of polarization. Our findings suggest that the masses may not be as immune to an increasingly polarized environment as previously thought. This research provides a more nuanced understanding of polarization dynamics, offering potential insights into its underlying mechanisms and evolution

翻译：在社交平台的政治领域中，规模各异的对立派系呈现出不对称的模式，这些群体内部的精英与大众具有不同的动机和影响力，这对简单化的极化观点构成了挑战。然而，现有的极化量化方法将分歧简化为单一数值，并假设在线极化呈均匀分布。虽然这种方法可以证实许多社会中观察到的政治极化加剧现象，但它忽略了可能解释这一现象的复杂性。值得注意的是，对立群体对极化的影响可能并不均衡，且文献表明精英与大众之间的分化是一个需要考虑的关键因素。我们提出一种分解现有极化测度的方法，以量化由这些不同层级所界定的群体在总极化值中的作用。我们将此方法应用于芬兰Twitter圈围绕2019年和2023年议会选举的极化议题。分析揭示了两项关键发现：1）对立群体对观测极化的影响很少保持平衡；2）尽管精英阶层对结构性极化贡献显著，且在不同议题中始终表现出更高的一致性，但大众群体近期也在议题一致性——一种更强的极化形式——上经历了急剧增长。我们的研究结果表明，大众群体可能并不像先前认为的那样对日益极化的环境具有免疫力。这项研究为极化动态提供了更细致的理解，有助于揭示其内在机制与演化规律。