Online discussion and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum : flaming keyboards or forums of deliberation?

Quinlan, Stephen and Shephard, Mark and Paterson, Lindsay (2015) Online discussion and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum : flaming keyboards or forums of deliberation? Electoral Studies, 38. 192–205. ISSN 0261-3794

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    Abstract

    Referendums often fail to live up to a deliberative standard, with many characterised by low levels of knowledge, disinterest and misinformation, negativity, and a focus on extraneous issues to which voters are voting. But social media offers new avenues for referendums to incorporate a greater deliberative dimension. Through a content analysis of BBC discussion forums, we test whether online discussion of the Scottish independence referendum has deliberative characteristics. Results suggest a mixed picture with conversation displaying some deliberative features (low incidences of flaming/discussion of referendum issues). However, low levels of discussion intensity, dominance by a few, little knowledge exchange, and high gender inequality illustrate that online referendum discussion lacks deliberative characteristics, implying that social media are not a panacea for referendum deliberation.

    Author(s):Quinlan, Stephen, Shephard, Mark ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5350-4734 and Paterson, Lindsay
    Item type:Article
    ID code:53098
    Keywords:referendums, deliberation, discussion forums, Scottish independence, online content analysis, Scotland, Political theory, Political Science and International Relations
    Subjects:Political Science > Political institutions (Europe) > Scotland
    Political Science > Political theory
    Department:Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > School of Government and Public Policy > Politics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:27 May 2015 12:52
    Last modified:10 Dec 2019 10:02
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/53098
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