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

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.

Reflections of a party scholar on direct democracy and the direct democracy literature

“…First, direct democracy in practice is often measured against deliberative democracy in theory and by the latter's standards the former is found wanting because of the quality deliberation is poor (Le Duc, 2015), even on moderated online discussion boards that one might reasonably expect to be ideal forums for such a conversation (Quinlivan et al, 2015). One important lesson from Schattschneider's work is that representative democracy can work pretty well in practice, despite the gap between an imagined ideal citizenry and what actually exists, because the institutions constructed by politicians for the purpose of winning elections can serve other beneficial functions.…”

“…Indeed, almost all of the papers in this special issue of Electoral Studies touch on one or more of these questions in some way. Some of the papers concern the context in which ideas and information is exchanged (Elkink and Sinnott, 2015;Faas, 2015;Le Duc, 2015;Quinlivan et al, 2015;Reidy and Suiter, 2015). Others seek to identify knowledge voters possess about the issues put before them, the information that that they use, and whether their choices are in some sense correct for them (Bowler, 2015;Elkink and Sinnot, 2015;Faas, 2015;Marsh, 2015).…”

Non-public eParticipation in Social Media Spaces

“…Even small qualitative studies may lack vital contextual information if available public online data is the sole input. For example, Quinlan, Shephard and Paterson's content analysis of public BBC online discussion forums, about the Scottish independence referendum [48], draws some conclusions about online deliberation that may not apply in non-public online contexts, such as individuals' Facebook pages.…”

Campaigning for the Female Vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum: Comparing Women For Independence and Women Together

“…As alluded to previously, the referendum opened up a discursive space whereby the possibilities afforded by independent Scottish statehood could be discussed, as well were clearly lacking a deliberative edge in terms of equality of gender participation (Quinlan et al, 2015).The founding members came from a range of different professional and political backgrounds but shared a commitment to engaging with women directly and bringing a gendered focus to the pro-independence campaign.…”