Pundits, Ideologues, and the Ranters: The British Columbia Election Online

TLDR: This article examined the potential for Internet discussion boards to be a vehicle for political deliberation through a case study of the BC Votes discussion board during British Columbia's 2001 provincial election and found that the board was dominated by a relatively small number of users and that the favourite discussion topics were not issues but how parties and leaders were performing.

Abstract: This article examines the potential for Internet discussion boards to be a vehicle for political deliberation through a case study of the BC Votes discussion board during British Columbia’s 2001 provincial election. Research reveals that the board was dominated by a relatively small number of users and that the favourite discussion topics were not issues but how parties and leaders were performing. The authors conclude that the perception of ideological homogeneity in online discussion may be overstated and that the first post in a discussion thread has an important agenda-setting function. They also find that the relative newness of discussion boards may play a role in shaping the nature of discussion there. Resume : Afin d’examiner le potentiel des babillards electroniques comme vehicules de debats politiques, cet article offre une etude de cas sur le babillard BC Votes lors des elections provinciales en Colombie-Britannique en 2001. Les auteurs demontrent que relativement peu d’usagers dominaient le babillard et que les sujets preferes de discussion ne touchaient pas aux enjeux de la campagne electorale, mais plutot a la performance des parties politiques et de leurs leaders. Les auteurs concluent que l’homogeneite ideologique des babillards electroniques n’est peut-etre qu’une perception exageree et que souvent le ton polemique du debat est dicte par le premier message dans un fil de discussion. Les auteurs concluent aussi que le caractere relativement nouveau des babillards reflete sur la specificite de la discussion qui s’y deroule.