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 processes that rely on the use of electronic
information and communications technologies (ICT).
Although the Internet and
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
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
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
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, for example prior to voting. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and reason as opposed to power-struggle, creativity, or dialogue. Group decision-making, Group decisions are general ...
. A 2004
deliberative poll 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 () is an area in social relation, social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion, Social influence, influence political action. A "Public" is "of or c ...
, 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 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 fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
and includes practices such as
online consultation
Online consultations or e-consultations refer to an exchange between government and citizens using the Internet. They are one form of online deliberation. Further, online consultation consists in using the Internet to ask a group of people their ...
,
e-participation
Electronic participation (e-participation) refers to the use of ICT in facilitating citizen participation in government-related processes, encompassing areas such as administration, service delivery, decision-making, and policy-making. As such, ...
,
e-government
E-government (known for electronic government) involves utilizing technology devices, such as computers and the Internet, for faster means of delivering public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offer ...
,
Citizen-to-Citizen (C2C),
online
deliberative polling
A deliberative opinion poll, sometimes called a deliberative poll, is a form of opinion poll taken before and after significant deliberation. Professor James S. Fishkin of Stanford University first described the concept in 1988. The typical delib ...
,
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 digit ...
, 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 and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech" ...
, civic dialogue in
Internet forums and
online chat
Online chat is any direct text-, audio- or video-based (webcams), one-on-one or one-to-many ( group) chat (formally also known as synchronous conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), talkers and possi ...
, 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."
Regar ...
and other forms of
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 ...
. 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.
See also
*
Argument map
An argument map or argument diagram is a visual representation of the structure of an argument. An argument map typically includes all the key components of the argument, traditionally called the ''Logical consequence, conclusion'' and the ''prem ...
*
Computer supported cooperative work
*
Deliberative democracy
Deliberative democracy or discursive democracy is a form of democracy in which deliberation is central to decision-making. Deliberative democracy seeks quality over quantity by limiting decision-makers to a smaller but more representative sample ...
*
E-democracy
E-democracy (a blend of the terms Electronic publishing, electronic and democracy), also known as digital democracy or Internet democracy, uses information and communication technology (ICT) in politics, political and governance processes. The ...
*
Web annotation
Web annotation can refer to online annotations of web resources such as web pages or parts of them, or a set of World Wide Web Consortium, W3C W3C recommendation, standards developed for this purpose. The term can also refer to the creations of an ...
* Popular tools:
**
Loomio
**
DemocracyOS
**
LiquidFeedback
**
Pol.is
References
{{reflist
External links
Online deliberation resourcesOnline Deliberation: A Review of The Literature
Bang The Table (blog), 7 Aug. 2017.
Online Deliberation
by Participedia
Decidim
Free Open-Source participatory democracy software
Conferences
- 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)
Group processes
Groupware
Media studies
Virtual communities
Politics and technology
Group decision-making
E-democracy