Framing Political, Personal Expression on the Web

For democratic societies, forums of political discussions are needed to exchange opinions which nowadays can be found in social media. Still, in line with theoretical assumptions of the privacy calculus, benefits of political expression in social media also come with risks of privacy invasions, both affecting people’s expression behavior. To better understand the longitudinal between- and within-person dynamics of anticipating costs and benefits when expressing political opinions online, this study uses a three-wave-longitudinal survey to analyze the reciprocal relationships between privacy concerns, political expression, as well as expected cost and benefits in social media. Results indicated that when individuals are more concerned than usual about data collection by companies or governments (i.e. vertical privacy concerns), they express political opinions less frequently. In contrast, heightened concerns about misuse by other social media users (i.e. horizontal privacy concerns) are associated with more frequent political expression. In terms of users’ weighing of costs and benefits, we found that while frequent opinion expressors see the benefit of persuading others in social media, non-expressors are inhibited by assuming that their opinion expression might be a waste of time. This suggests that people’s political expression online is not solely driven by abstract privacy concerns but by very specific worries about who will use their opinionated message and with which consequences.

Significant advances in public participation geographic information systems technology and online mapping platforms have not translated into enhanced citizen participation in democratic planning processes. This study contributes to addressing this gap by evaluating the engagement of members of an urban community in sustainable neighbourhood planning through argumentation mapping. The study provided an online public discussion forum, together with a neighbourhood map to which the participants could link their discussion contributions. On the basis of participation statistics, contents of contributions, and responses to a survey, we discuss the participants' technical and engagement experiences. The sixteen registered participants lived within or near the ‘Queen West Triangle’ in downtown Toronto, Canada. They rated themselves as experienced computer users and consequently found the participation in the online discussion forum to be easy. The contributions showed a great degree of interest and knowledge in the issues of sustainable community development. However, while the majority of participants also rated themselves as comfortable with map reading, they found the handling of the online neighbourhood map difficult and did not use the option to link their comments to the map.

Carbon markets devolve governance to external institutions and displace power from sovereign states. Major producers in these markets, notably China, have expressed concern about the adverse implications for national interests and sovereignty associated with selling off the rights to emit carbon emissions abroad. This article suggests that such concern has shaped the discursive context in which emission trading schemes have gained popularity in the country. Our discourse analysis shows that notions of market power are made manifest as a powerful storyline. In the Chinese language, “power,” “sovereignty,” and “rights” all use the same character. The storyline captures all these expressions and allows for a positive view about active engagement in carbon trading as a way to protect development rights and redeem carbon sovereignty. Thus, the contested policy of emissions trading becomes embedded in the more appealing narrative of national development and made politically attractive, despite unfavorable realities against it.

Comedy renders certain (geo)political discourses as common sense to particular audiences and geopolitical communities. Terms such as “Generation Rent” and “Generation Left” have emerged to understand the material/political conditions that produce geopolitical communities increasingly defined along the axis of age. Merging previous theories of comedy with assemblage thinking and critical geopolitics scholarship, this thesis identifies, follows and analyses this production - answering to how broadcast and digital forms of political comedy both assemble and are assembled by generational/geopolitical communities in broader human/media assemblages.A discourse analysis of UK broadcast political comedy shows sets up the ‘liberal’ base line against which it is argued Generation Left is increasingly independent of and actively challenging. This discourse analysis uses the traditional theories of comedy – superiority theory, incongruity theory and relief theory – as heuristic categories to isolate and analyse moments of othering, juxtaposition and tension respectively. From this, it is argued that particular space-time juxtapositions in broadcast comedy territorialise UK geopolitical communities of ‘remainer’ and ‘leaver’ as central, distinct and coterminous coalitions.“Moments of sincerity” are offered in this thesis as a way to explore emerging political expressions in political comedy. Moments of sincerity lay claim to and position a particular (perceived) audience as “naive”, rendering a particular discourse as common sense. These moments create and reflect a generational battle over who represents the naive audience.Emerging political comedy appetites are explored through the dis/connections between digital and broadcast political comedy assemblages and the role and rise of the ‘prosumer’ (producers and consumers). As active ‘prosumers’ of political comedy media, Generation Left are more independently, assertively, and creatively challenge geopolitical discourses of the status quo, creating and reflecting new political expressions adequate to the material conditions and everyday geopolitical lives of Generation Left.

The article highlights the problem of preserving historical humanity emphasized by Karl Jaspers, analyzes modern geopolitical and psychological risks that can deform cultures as multi-level value systems and distort their transmission between generations. For an analytical consideration of the levels and ways of development of human cultures, the model of Jean Gebser's structures of consciousness, illuminated in modern philosophical, psychological and political discourse by Ken Wilber, including archaic, magical, mythical, rational and integral levels, as well as the associated model of care ethics by Carol Gilligan, describing egoistic, ethnocentric and the world-centered levels. The article analyzes the current status of Western and Russian cultural civilizations declared and implemented by the political leadership of the United States and Russia, examines and identifies key geopolitical and ideological factors that can evolutionarily or involutionarily influence the development of Western and Russian cultural civilizations. The methodological basis of the study is a comparative analysis, in which, based on the consideration of models of consciousness structures proposed by Gebser, Gilligan and Wilber, an assessment and comparison of the current statuses and directions of changes in the declared and asserted values of the West and Russia in the context of real geopolitical processes is carried out. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive compilation and comparative consideration of philosophical views on cultures as multilevel value systems reflected in the works of Jaspers, Gebser, Gilligan and Wilber, with the involvement of the current state of Western and Russian cultures in their political expression as the subject of research. The article draws conclusions about the future of human cultures, about the factors influencing their harmonious growth and integral interaction, about the causes leading to the confrontation and degeneration of cultures. The problem of preserving historical humanity is identified and a solution is proposed in the form of strengthening cultures as value systems through a deeply interpreted concept of tradition, which is proposed to be considered and applied as the main means of preserving and transferring inherited and improved cultural experience between generations at all levels of consciousness inherent in the corresponding cultures-civilizations.

People living in authoritarian or autocratizing societies may have to refrain from expressing their genuine political views to avoid troubles. Besides preference falsification, some may simply refrain from engaging in political expressions and discussions. This study aims at understanding avoidance of political discussions in an autocratizing society. It posits perceptions of legal and social risks, political frustration, political orientation, and secondary control as possible predictors of avoidance of political discussions. A survey of citizens in post-National Security Law Hong Kong shows that pro-democracy citizens in Hong Kong are more likely to perceive the presence of social and legal risks. They are also more likely to feel frustrated by the political environment. Perceived social risks significantly predict avoidance of political discussions, and the relationship is stronger among people with higher levels of secondary control. Implications of the findings are discussed.

With the development of new media technology, social network has increasingly become a platform of the youth for emotional communication and ideological expression. It has gradually evolved into the main channel for political expressions of the youth and has changed the discourse system of online political discussions. Although social media has improved the youth’s ability to participate in the administration and discussion of state affairs, it has also led to some problems. Therefore, it is important to let social network have positive effects on the youth’s political expression, as well as the avoiding or amelioration of its negative effects. Then, the dissatisfaction from the youth can be eliminated, and social instability factors might be reduced.

Individuals often overestimate their political knowledge—known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. Such overconfidence may lead individuals to participate in political discussions based on inaccurate information, ultimately degrading the quality of the discourse. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore how overconfidence affects individuals’ political opinion expression. First, this study explored how overconfidence moderates the opinion expression process, using the Spiral of Silence (SoS) theory as a theoretical framework. Second, I examined the relationships between overconfidence, political efficacy, and opinion expression, analyzing whether inflated self-assessments of knowledge trigger actual opinion expression. Third, by comparing these relationships across face-to-face and social media interactions, this study aimed to assess the theoretical implications of the SoS theory within today’s media environment. Findings suggest that the SoS theory was generally not supported, although a significant negative relationship was found between overconfidence and political efficacy, and only efficacy predicted opinion expression. In addition, no consistent differences were found between face-to-face and social media settings. These findings highlight the need to distinguish between political overconfidence and efficacy and that both psychological and contextual factors play a crucial role in shaping individuals’ political expression.

The article deals with the issues of modern Russian political discourse - the interaction of power and society, political communication, the influence of power through the spoken and written word on the mass consciousness. The significance of the problem in modern society is associated with the expansion of the political space through multi-sided political communication, the introduction of new subjects in the political polylogue, the dissemination of information flows that are exchanged by participants in the political process and which are not always adequately perceived and processed by them, which creates opportunities for purposeful management of people's behavior. In Russian political practice, this has been noted in various forms of controlled protest. Media texts, the interpretation of written texts in their variety of genres, the ability to persuade in oral speeches, the use of political terms, informal words and expressions, slang, depending on the audience and the goals set by the speakers, are becoming more and more common forms of influence. Modern political discourse is shown as existing outside of the moral requirements and restrictions imposed by the authorities, who pursue the main goal of self - preservation and self-restraint, and use all methods of manipulation for this purpose, creating a pseudo-reality. This is especially significant in times of political crises, when power structures and leaders begin to reveal their failure, inability to make adequate political decisions, compensating them with various technologies of zombie population. Channels of influence are the media, which in the conditions of the information society turn into another power institution. Manipulative influence of the word can be neutralized in the dialogue between the government and society, which implies a high level of political culture of the elite and citizens.

The study explores the practice, meaning and significance of invective and insults in political discourse among Ghanaians. It examines the use of such language forms against people of higher social status in online discourse in Ghana, a country where it is traditionally unacceptable to openly criticize the elderly and authority figures, let alone insult them. Data was sourced from GhanaWeb [www.ghanaweb.com], the most patronized online news website in Ghana that ensures anonymous citizen participation in issues of national interest. The data involved invective and insult-filled online reader comments on news reports about the presidential candidates and the electoral commissioner involved in the 2016 general election in Ghana. Metapragmatic comments (reader reactions) which portray Ghanaian sociocultural perspectives on the use of abusive language against these individuals were also gathered. These two sets of comments were used to build the Corpus of GhanaWeb Comments on Ghana’s 2016 Election (CGCGE16). In addition to CGCGE16, the data for the study included comments from social media platforms, native speakers’ intuitions and the views of Ghanaian anthropological linguists and cultural specialists obtained from interviews, and evidence from scholarly works. The qualitative meaning analysis method is used along with the quantitative discourse analysis method. The study adopts an ethnopragmatic approach, combining corpus-based searches with semantic explications and cultural scripts, following the principles of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach (Wierzbicka, 1992, 1996; Goddard & Wierzbicka, 2014). The findings indicate that most of the comments in CGCGE16 are personal attacks that violate the Ghanaian communicative norms towards the elderly and people in authority and, furthermore, do not conform to the expected displays of verbal respect. Instead of expressing their views on on-going socio-political issues, the commenters often draw on past socio-political occurrences, their public and sociocultural knowledge to engage in negative emotional characterizations and evaluations of the presidential candidates and the electoral commissioner, thereby, showing disapproval of them. By means of name-calling expressions, derogatory adjectives, and derogatory interjections, these commenters attack the intellectual abilities, moral behaviour, social competence, and physical characteristics of their targets. This negative communicative behaviour is attributed to the fact that on GhanaWeb, like on many online communities, interactants are not obliged to uphold communicative norms. The anonymity of GhanaWeb shields commenters from the repercussions such speech behaviours would otherwise necessitate. It is also attributed to the right to freedom of speech, the repeal of the criminal libel law, and the fact that traditionally, there are some specific settings that allow the use of insults against authority. The study demonstrates that although the practice of using insults against political leaders in online commentary appears to be “normal” in the online context, it is a transgression when one considers the Ghanaian sociocultural norms of communication. Consistent with this, although the interaction on GhanaWeb is asynchronous, some commenters play the role of regulatory figures and traditional gatekeepers of appropriate communicative behaviour by posting disapproving metapragmatic comments. The study identifies many ways in which interactions on GhanaWeb are culturally shaped. These include first, commenters do not only rely on English slang terms and swearwords, they also employ some local language insulting expressions (e.g. kwasea ‘fool’, yaka gbɔmɔ ‘worthless person’) due to the ‘weight’ such expressions carry for Ghanaians. Secondly, the metapragmatic comments do not employ certain key terms such as “offensiveness” that can be found in the literature on online studies related to the speakers of Inner Circle Englishes. Instead, they highlight the clear position of the Ghanaian culture on respect for elders and people in authority. These metapragmatic comments also stress the fact that the exchange of invective and insults in politics can result in violence which may have adverse effects on the development of the nation. Overall, the study is inclined towards the view that instead of generalizing the results of studies on abusive language use in online interactions, there is a need to draw out what distinguishes Ghanaian online interactants from, let’s say, Western countries, Asian countries, African countries, or from interactants elsewhere. The key claim is that understanding the sociocultural backdrop for the speech practices of online interactants is crucial to understanding their language use, as interactants draw on existing communicative repertoires which influence their language choices. Also, the study draws attention to news websites in Ghana as a platform where the use of unmitigated invective and insults against people of higher social status is increasingly becoming the norm, despite the fact it violates Ghanaian communicative values. Thus, this study serves as a springboard for future research into abusive language use in online interactions among Ghanaians.

This study compares the effects of forum discussion with metacognitive guidance versus forum discussion without metacognitive guidance (Forum) on solving real life mathematical tasks and self‐regulated learning. Participants were 43 Grade 7 students (boys and girls) who practiced online problem‐solving in two classes. The metacognitive guidance was based on the IMPROVE metacognitive questioning suggested by Mevarech and Kramarski. The method utilized a series of four self‐addressed metacognitive questions: comprehension questions; connection questions; strategic questions; reflection questions. It was found that students who were exposed to forum discussion with metacognitive guidance (Forum+Meta) outperformed students that were not exposed to metacognitive guidance (Forum discussion) on real life mathematical tasks and self‐regulated learning. It was found that the Forum+Meta students were more positive than the Forum students about their interest in online problem‐solving, mathematical engagement and online communication. Les interactions en ligne dans la classe de Mathématiques Cette étude compare les effets des discussions en Forum avec guidage métacognitif (Forum+Meta) par rapport aux discussions en Forum sans guidage métacognitif (Forum) dans la résolution mathématique de l’apprentissage fondé sur des tâches de la vie réelle et auto‐régulé. Ont participé à l’expérience 43 élèves de 7e année (5e), garçons et filles, qui ont pratiqué la résolution de problèmes en ligne en deux classes. Le guidage métacognitif était basé sur le questionnaire métacognitif IMPROVE tel qu’il a été proposé par Mevarech et Kramarski (1997, 2003). La méthode a utilisé une série de quatre questions métacognitives auto adressées: des questions de Compréhension; des questions de liaison; des questions stratégiques et des questions de réflexion. On a trouvé que les élèves qui ont été exposés à la discussion Forum+Meta ont obtenu de meilleurs résultats que les élèves qui n’étaient pas exposés au guidage métacognitif (discussion en Forum)pour l’apprentissage mathématique fondé sur des tâches de la vie réelle et auto régulé. On a trouvé que les les élèves Forum+Meta avaient un avis plus positif que les élèves Forum seul en ce qui concerne leur intérêt pour la résolution de problèmes en ligne, l’intérêt pour les mathématiques et la communication en ligne. Online‐Interaktionen im Mathematikunterricht In der Studie werden die Wirkung von Forum‐Diskussion mit metakognitiver Anleitung (Forum + Meta) und Forum‐Diskussion ohne metakognitive Anleitung (Forum) beim Lösen mathematischer Anwendungsaufgaben und selbstgesteuertem Lernen verglichen. Teilnehmer waren 43 Siebtklässler (Jungen und Mädchen), die in zwei Klassen mit Online‐Problem‐Lösen beschäftigt waren. Die metakognitive Anleitung wurde nach der von Mevarech und Kramarski (1997, 2003) vorgeschlagenen Befragungsmethode durchgeführt. Die Methode wertete eine Serie von vier selbstadressierten Fragen aus: Verständnisfragen, Verknüpfungsfragen, Strategiefragen und Besinnungsfragen. Es wurde festgestellt, dass Schüler, die nach der Forum + Meta Methode arbeiten mussten, bessere Ergebnisse bei Anwendungsaufgaben und selbstgesteuertem Lernen erzielten, als die, die keine metakognitive Anleitung erfuhren (Forum Diskussion). Auch in Bezug auf ihr Interesse am Online‐Problemlösen, ihr mathematisches Engagement und die Online‐Kommunikation reagierten die “Forum + Meta–Schüler” positiver als die “Forum‐Schüler”.

This study provides an overview of the strategies and techniques of hate speech in online discourse (on online discourse or computer-mediated communication in general cf. e.g., Schwarzhaupt-Scholz 2004; Schmidt 2013; Dittler and Hoyer 2014; Seargeant and Tagg 2014). Based on a collection of online texts belonging to different genres (discussion forums, blogs, social media, tweets, homepages), this study will provide a qualitative analysis of destructively impolite utterances in online interactions. This analysis will make use of the standard typologies of impoliteness and their recent extensions (such as Culpeper 1996, 2005, 2011; Kienpointner 1997, 2008; Kleinke and Bös 2015), but some modifications and elaborations of these typologies will also be taken into account. Moreover, social, cultural and political reasons for the recent dramatic increase in hate speech in online interactions will be explored. Finally, the problem of how to deal with this destructive use of language will be briefly discussed and some possible solutions will be suggested (cf. Banks 2010).

Electronic communication and discussion forums: News groups and mailing lists

Online social media are currently perceived as the new means of providing a platform for participation among citizens. This comes at a time when people are led to alternative spaces of political expression as traditional channels become strained. New technologies appear to have a transformational potential that could lead to social change and achieve deeper and wider mobilisation in political processes. However, people still face challenges when seeking information, disseminating information, or engaging in online deliberation. Allowing every citizen to participate in discussions and thus influence the final decision requires countless interactions that take considerable amounts of time and energy. This process is cognitively demanding due to linguistic barriers or when the problems on the table are multidisciplinary. We envision in this blue sky paper the development of autonomous and intelligent conversational agents that can augment the deliberative capacities of citizens in social media. To implement our vision, we start by proposing an approach that quantifies deliberation in online argumentative discussions. Then, we propose a methodology to optimise deliberation across discussion threads. The proposed concept is expected to pave the way to a form of augmented democratic deliberation built on the cooperation of humans and conversational agents.

Patriarchal bargains have been studied in many settings as a strategy that helps women circumvent constraints and forge spaces for individual empowerment. Despite the growing use of mediated communication, little is known about how patriarchal bargains are enacted and realized within online interactions such as in discussion forums. By analyzing how Chinese unwed single mothers renegotiate the state’s oppressive population control and gender policies through their online activity, this study proposes the concept of “online patriarchal bargain” to extend patriarchal bargain theory to women’s Internet use. It further explores linkages between social support and patriarchal bargain to elucidate how support is integral to enacting agency in the face of forbidding systemic constraints. The findings also delve into the role of therapeutic culture in the day-to-day experiences of women, especially those in marginalized communities.