Online deliberation and the public sphere: developing a coding manual to assess deliberation in Twitter political networks

Del Valle, Marc Esteve, Sijtsma, Rimmert, Stegeman, Hanne and Borge, Rosa (2020) Online deliberation and the public sphere: developing a coding manual to assess deliberation in Twitter political networks. Javnost, 27 (3). pp. 211-229. ISSN 1318-3222

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Abstract

To what extent are elements of rational-critical debate present in Twitter political networks? And to what extent are the discursive practices in these networks constitutive of a public sphere online? This research presents the different phases of a coding manual we developed to assess deliberation in Twitter political networks. To exemplify the use and value of the coding manual, we manually annotated communications (N = 3657) in the Dutch MPs’ mentions Twitter network. Our results show clear signs of positive empathy and cross-ideological interactions in the MPs’ communications, yet they also point to low levels of internal justification, reflexivity and critique. Therefore, although communications in the Dutch MPs’ mentions Twitter network exhibit important components of rational-critical debate, they cannot be considered full-fledged deliberative.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2020 The Author(s).
Divisions:	LSE
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2022 16:36
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 20:09
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/115684

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