Journal of Communication· 2014Q1
Online and Uncivil? Patterns and Determinants of Incivility in Newspaper Website Comments
- 958citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2014year
Short summary
Incivility is frequent in online newspaper comments, associated with article topics and sources, but frequent commenters are more civil than infrequent ones.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Incivility is a frequent occurrence in online newspaper comments.
- Article topics and the sources quoted within articles are associated with the level of incivility.
- Frequent commenters exhibit more civil behavior than infrequent commenters.
- The use of evidence in comments does not differ between civil and uncivil users.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Incivility in public discussions has received increasing attention from academic and popular commentators in recent years. In an effort to better understand the nature and determinants of such incivility, this study examined a 3-week census of articles and comments posted to a local newspaper's website—totaling more than 300 articles and 6,400 comments. The results of the content analysis show that incivility occurs frequently and is associated with key contextual factors, such as the topic of the article and the sources quoted within the article. We also find that, contrary to popular perceptions, frequent commenters are more civil than are infrequent commenters, and uncivil commenters are no less likely than civil commenters to use evidence in support of their claims.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Communication, 2014 · DOI ↗
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Field: Communication
CommunicationSocial Sciences