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It’s not cricket: examining political discussion in nonpolitical online space
W. Yan, , M.A. Xenos
Published in Routledge
2018
Volume: 21
   
Issue: 11
Pages: 1571 - 1587
Abstract
Scholars of digital democracy share enthusiasm about the potential the Internet provides for democratic communication among citizens. Many applaud the prospect of an expanded, digital, public sphere; others are more cautious about whether the Internet may foster deliberative democracy. We attempt to provide a third alternative view by (1) focusing on everyday political talk in nonpolitical online forums and (2) expanding research beyond a singular deliberative model to attend to multiple frameworks for democratic discussion online. In this paper, we examine online political discussion of six globally prominent political issues in two transnational cricket forums. Our findings suggest that deliberative discussion coexists with liberal individualist and communitarian forms of communication in online sports forums. We discuss the implications of our findings for the future of mediated political discussion research. © 2017, © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
About the journal
JournalInformation Communication and Society
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN1369118X