Online discussion and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum: Flaming keyboards or forums for deliberation?

• Stephen Quinlan ^[3] ; Mark Shephard ^[1] ; Lindsay Paterson ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Strathclyde

     University of Strathclyde

     Reino Unido

     
  2. [2] University of Edinburgh

     University of Edinburgh

     Reino Unido

     
  3. [3] GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: Electoral Studies: An international Journal, ISSN 0261-3794, Nº 38, 2015, págs. 192-205
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • 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.