Online Political Discourse: Exploring Differences in Effects of Civil and Uncivil Disagreement in News Website Comments

Gina Masullo Chen · Shuning Lu

197 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media

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Social Media and Politics Media Studies and Communication Digital Communication and Language

Abstract

An experiment (N = 272) demonstrated that disagreement—either civil or uncivil—may have a chilling effect on the public discourse vital to a deliberative democracy. Both forms of disagreement—in comments posted on a news story about abortion—caused negative emotion and aggressive intentions. However, only uncivil disagreement led people to respond back uncivilly and indirectly led to greater intention to participate politically, if it aroused aggressive feelings. Findings support extending face and politeness theories to the computer-mediated space of online commenting. Results are discussed in relation to the impact on the public discourse.

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References

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2019We Should Not Get Rid of Incivility Online 2019Active audiences and social discussion on the digital public sphere. Review article 2019Is Context the Key? The (Non-)Differential Effects of Mediated Incivility in Three European Countries 2021Incivility as a Violation of Communication Norms—A Typology Based on Normative Expectations toward Political Communication 2021“Be Nice or Leave Me Alone”: An Intergroup Perspective on Affective Polarization in Online Political Discussions

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