How important online discussions (forums, social media, microblogging etc.) are in the process of shaping the public agenda and political participation? We have already know that media coverage affects peoples' perception about particular socio-political issues. Thanks to the media outlets one can deepen knowledge, fulfill the information gap and look "beyond the box" . Nevertheless, users comments are no less important. Interesting here is to what extent users' comments/opinions (malicious, substantive etc.) can affect the degree of political views and participation (particularly voting act) of other users? Does offended comments have more impact on that ? Does the spiral of silence still applicable? I'd love to know your opinions on that matter!
Is indeed important, provided that it expresses a specific and defined objective in order to achieve the desired policy of creating a people with a very high mindset and the result of progress and prosperity in all areas.
Dear Nozewski,
I think the research question of this article is partly similar to your question. I recommend you to review.
Best,
İbrahim
Article Investigating Political Polarization on Twitter: A Canadian ...
There are four key processes that characterize the functioning of political system: socialization, mobilization, participation and representation. In a cultural approach to politics, which means talking about shared understandings of politics, online discussion influence all four processes. The way someone develops political attitudes and behavior (political socialization), the way he or she react to politics by involving themselves (mobilization and participation) and how they cast their vote (representation).
Jacek Nożewski
I think that the comments, if their source of knowledge and accurate knowledge of the subject can change a lot of views, but political decisions both inside and outside the country considering that the world is now a small village. The negative comments or the source of ignorance, lack of knowledge and certainty of information will naturally change attitudes only ... The result is the survival of this type of people lagging behind.
The point is that comments on social media do affect political attitudes and behavior, for good or worse. Especially nowadays, when people do not read books anymore. In fact, most of them read 4-5 lines on Facebook or 1-2 lines on Twitter.
Mary Layton Atkinson's book, Combative Politics: The Media and Public Perceptions of Lawmaking, provides evidence to suggest that if the public perceives a bill to involve a lot of contention during the policymaking process, support for the bill will decrease over time even among those who would benefit from its provisions. While Atkinson attributes this to the way news articles are written, I would say that this effect can also be spurred by the nature of online commentary. In other words, if a lot of online comments denounce a bill as being highly contentious, support for the bill would likely decrease among those who are exposed to those comments.
Furthermore, Atkinson outlines that a by-product of this phenomenon is a decline in public trust in government. I could see this having an effect on voter choices and political participation.
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