Real time political deliberation on social media: can televised debates lead to rational and civil discussions on broadcasters’ Facebook pages?

Abstract

As broadcast news organizations partner with social media to generate real time reactions to live political debates, this article explores how this trend impacts discussions among their Facebook page users. Data from the 2016 U.S. elections suggest that real-time conversations on broadcasters’ Facebook pages in response to televised political debates might have important democratic value, as viewer comments expressed a considerable degree of interactivity, rationality and civility. Discussions prompted by brodcasters' posts that quoted candidate acclaims and their policy positions resulted in more deliberate conversations than discussions prompted by opponent attacks and candidate character.

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