Online deliberation is a broad term used to describe many forms of non-institutional, institutional and experimental online discussions.Bächtiger, A., Dryzek, John S., Mansbridge, Jane J., & Warren, Mark. (2018). The Oxford handbook of deliberative democracy (First ed., Oxford handbooks online). Oxford: Oxford University Press. The term also describes the emerging field of practice and research related to the design, implementation and study of

deliberative Deliberative rhetoric (Greek: ''genos'' ''symbouleutikon;'' Latin: ''genus deliberativum,'' sometimes called legislative oratory) is one of the three kinds of rhetoric described by Aristotle. Deliberative rhetoric juxtaposes potential future outcome ...

processes that rely on the use of electronic information and communications technologies (ICT). Although the Internet and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

have fostered discursive participation and deliberation online through

computer-mediated communication Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is defined as any human communication that occurs through the use of two or more electronic devices. While the term has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated forma ...

, the academic study of online deliberation started in the early 2000s.

Effective support for online deliberation

A range of studies have suggested that group size, volume of communication, interactivity between participants, message characteristics, and social media characteristics can impact online deliberation. and that democratic deliberation varies across platforms. For example, news forums have been shown to have the highest degree of deliberation followed by news websites, and then Facebook.Esau, Katharina, Friess, Dennis, & Eilders, Christiane. (2017). Design Matters! An Empirical Analysis of Online Deliberation on Different News Platforms. Policy and Internet, 9(3), 321-342. Differences in the effectiveness of platforms as supporting deliberation has been attributed based on numerous factors such as moderation, the availability of information, and focusing on a well defined topic. A limited number of studies have explored the extent to which online deliberation can produce similar results to traditional, face-to-face

deliberation Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and reason as opposed to power-struggle, creativity, or dialogue. Group decisions are generally made after deliberation ...

. A 2004

deliberative poll A deliberative opinion poll, sometimes called a deliberative poll, is a form of opinion poll that incorporates the principles of deliberative democracy. Professor James S. Fishkin of Stanford University first described the concept in 1988. The typi ...

comparing face-to-face and online deliberation on U.S. foreign policy found similar results. A similar study in 2012 in France found that, compared to the offline process, online deliberation was more likely to increase women’s participation and to promote the justification of arguments by participants. Research on online deliberation suggests that there are five key design considerations that will affect the quality of dialogue: asynchronous communication vs synchronous communication, post hoc moderation vs pre-moderation, empowering spaces vs un-empowering spaces, asking discrete questions vs broad questions, and the quality of information. Other scholars have suggested that successful online deliberation follows four central rules: discussions must be inclusive, rational-critical, reciprocal and respectful. In general, online deliberation require participants to be able to work together comfortably in order to make the best possible deliberations which can often require rules and regulations that help members feel comfortable with one another.

Challenges

Researchers have questioned the utility of online deliberation as an extension of the

public sphere The public sphere (german: Öffentlichkeit) is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. A "Public" is "of or concerning the ...

, arguing the idea that online deliberation is no less beneficial than face-to-face interaction. Computer-mediated discourse is deemed impersonal, and is found to encourage online incivility. Furthermore, users who participate in online discussions about politics are found to make comments only in groups that agree with their own views, indicating the possibility that online deliberation mainly promotes

motivated reasoning Motivated reasoning is the phenomenon in cognitive science and social psychology in which emotional biases lead to justifications or decisions based on their desirability rather than an accurate reflection of the evidence. It is the "tendency to ...

and reinforces preexisting attitudes.

Related Disciplines

Scholarly research into online deliberation is

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

and includes practices such as online consultation,

e-participation Electronic participation (e-participation) is ICT-supported participation in processes involving government and citizens. Processes may concern administration, service delivery, decision making and policy making. E-participation is hence closely ...

e-government E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers ne ...

, Citizen-to-Citizen (C2C), online deliberative polling,

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

, online facilitation, online research communities, interactive

e-learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...

, civic dialogue in

Internet forums An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least tempor ...

and

online chat Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet that offers a real-time transmission of text messages from sender to receiver. Chat messages are generally short in order to enable other participants to respond quickly. Th ...

, and group decision making that utilizes

collaborative software Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is "intentional group processes plus software to support them". As re ...

and other forms of

. Work in all these endeavors is tied together by the challenge of using electronic media in a way that deepens thinking and improves mutual understanding.

References

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External links

Online deliberation resources

- the first conference on online deliberation, Carnegie Mellon University (June 2003)
Online Deliberation 2005 / DIAC-2005
- the Second Conference on Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice, Stanford University (May 2005)
Tools for Participation: Collaboration, Deliberation, and Decision Support (DIAC-2008/OD2008)
- the Third Conference on Online Deliberation, University of California, Berkeley (June 2008)
The Fourth International Conference on Online Deliberation
- University of Leeds (June 30-July 2, 2010)
Online Deliberation: A Review of The Literature
Bang The Table, 7 Aug. 2017.
Online Deliberation
Online Deliberation , Participedia.
Decidim
Free Open-Source participatory democracy software Group processes Groupware Media studies Virtual communities Politics and technology Group decision-making E-democracy

Effective support for online deliberation

Challenges

Related Disciplines

See also

References

External links