IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v11y2023i3p274-284.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Barriers to Participation in Polarized Online Discussions About Covid-19 and the Russo-Ukrainian War

Author

Listed:
  • Martina Novotná

    (Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Alena Macková

    (Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Karolína Bieliková

    (Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Patrícia Rossini

    (School of Political and Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK)

Abstract

Even though social networking sites create a unique online public space for the exchange of opinions, only a small share of citizens participate in online discussions. Moreover, research has depicted current online discussions as highly uncivil, hostile, and polarized, and the number of heated discussions has escalated in the last two years because of health, social, and security crises. This study investigates the perceived barriers to participation in Facebook discussions, focusing on two topics: the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian War. It explores the role that the negativity of these online discussions has on participation. To investigate the perspectives of users and their personal experiences with online discussions in times of crisis, we apply a qualitative research method and interviews with participants. We collected and analyzed 50 semi-structured interviews with Czech Facebook users who participated in discussions during the spring of 2021 (i.e., Covid-19) and the spring of 2022 (i.e., Russo-Ukrainian War). The results show that, after initial mobilization at the beginning of the pandemic, the crisis reinforced several crucial barriers to participation in discussions due to the perceived persistence of polarization (e.g., the spread of disinformation, the bipolar character of discussions, negative perception of opponents), which subsequently spread to other areas and issues. The data also implies that these barriers tend to demobilize less active participants, those who do not have strong opinions, and participants who think the subject matter is not worth the heated exchange of opinions.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Novotná & Alena Macková & Karolína Bieliková & Patrícia Rossini, 2023. "Barriers to Participation in Polarized Online Discussions About Covid-19 and the Russo-Ukrainian War," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 274-284.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v11:y:2023:i:3:p:274-284
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.v11i3.6657
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6657
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6657?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v11:y:2023:i:3:p:274-284. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.