[liberationtech] Pew Report - Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

[Steven Clift]

Pew Report:

Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’
http://bit.ly/silentspiral


Guardian article:

Facebook and Twitter users 'more likely' to censor their views offline
Pew study warns about ‘spiral of silence’ in US discussion of Edward
Snowden’s NSA online surveillance revelations
http://bit.ly/guardianselfcensor


On a related note, from my analysis of a past Pew survey, see slides
17, 18, and 19 - there is huge drop off in the ideological middle of
those who talk politics offline still willing to do it online.

http://bit.ly/newvoicesslides


My take - the "loudest voices" problem and the lack of civility
practiced by thunderous partisans make online political discussion
quite uninviting for many. My view is that once you frame online
discussion as say city politics versus broader community
life/community issues exchange you lose 98% of potential participants.



Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
  Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.org
  Twitter: http://twitter.com/democracy
  Tel/Text: +1.612.234.7072
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