Civil Discussions or Partisan Rants?: Comment Interactivity on Online News Websites

• In Event: Online Comments and the News: Interactivity, Perception, and Political Function

Abstract

Using an online survey administered via Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), this study investigates two factors explaining comment interactivity (i.e., reading and posting comments) on online news websites, articles, and blogs. In line with previous theoretical and empirical work, the results of this study support the hypothesis that the civility of comments influences the extent to which individuals pay attention and contribute to online news discussions. Furthermore, the findings indicate that individuals who most frequently read and post news comments actually tend to be more moderate/independent in terms of ideology and political partisanship than others. Lastly, this study highlights avenues for future research in journalism and mass communication around factors exogenous to news production that promote civility and interactivity within online news comment communities.

Author

• Kyle A Heatherly, Indiana U