Attentional DoS: Repeat Reposting, Collective Attention, and Information Diffusion on X

2026-09-28

AI Summary

This study addresses how repetitive retweeting on social media monopolizes collective attention and distorts information diffusion. Focusing on the X platform, this work innovatively proposes the concept of “Attention Denial-of-Service (Attention DoS)” and employs an integrated methodology combining large-scale cascade analysis, sequence modeling, lexical matching, and temporal synchronization detection. The results reveal that repetitive retweeting exhibits characteristics of distributed, synchronized amplification, primarily reinforcing reach among existing audiences rather than competing for new traffic. Furthermore, such behavior is strongly associated with Chinese-language commercial spam. By elucidating the propagation dynamics underlying malicious attention manipulation, this research offers a novel perspective and empirical evidence to inform governance strategies for social media platforms.

Abstract

Collective attention is a finite shared resource, and social media posts compete for limited opportunities to be seen. On X, users can undo a repost and repost it again. By repeating this cycle, a user can put the same post back into followers'timelines any number of times without making new content. We call this procedure repeat reposting, and we read it as placing repeated demand on this shared resource (Attentional DoS). We formalize this idea and explore repeat reposting in a large-scale dataset of cascades with at least 1,000 reactions, originating from posts classified as Japanese on X, covering April 2025 to March 2026. Repeat reposts are rare, appearing in a small share of all (user, post) pairs. Even so, close to a million posts have at least one repeater, and most repeats come from a small group of habitual accounts. The central result is that subsequent audience growth is associated less with the number of repeats than with the estimated reach of the repeating accounts. Through the lens of seriality, how habitually the same groups of accounts repeat reposts across many posts, a distinct distributed form emerges: several serial amplifiers converge on the same post (Attentional DDoS). Its synchrony, how closely their actions are timed together, forms a continuum from bursts on the scale of minutes to a daily clock. A check of the content of 99.7% of amplified posts shows that most ADDoS repeat events are directed at Chinese-script content, which our vocabulary matching and sample inspection indicate is predominantly commercial spam. Repeat reposting thus lets a post re-enter the competition for visibility. The observed pattern is better characterized as repeated temporal coverage of an existing audience and the self-reinforcement of posts that are already growing, rather than as evidence that repeat reposting takes reach from other content.

Problem

• Collective attention
• Information diffusion
• Repeat reposting
• Attentional DoS
• Social media

Innovation

• Attentional DoS
• Repeat Reposting
• Information Diffusion
• Collective Attention
• Distributed Amplification