Fandom and Polarisation in Online Political Discussion: From Pop Culture to Politics PDF
Preview Fandom and Polarisation in Online Political Discussion: From Pop Culture to Politics
Fandom and Polarization in Online Political Discussion From Pop Culture to Politics Renee Barnes Fandom and Polarization in Online Political Discussion Renee Barnes Fandom and Polarization in Online Political Discussion From Pop Culture to Politics Renee Barnes University of the Sunshine Coast Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia ISBN 978-3-031-14038-9 ISBN 978-3-031-14039-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14039-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Malte Mueller | Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To B and D A cknowledgements There are always many people who make a book possible, and I won’t pos- sibly be able to mention them all. First and foremost, the participants who gave up their time to talk to me and complete surveys. On a personal note, my husband and daughter for excusing me from many moments of family time so that I could complete this work. On a professional note, my col- leagues at the University of the Sunshine Coast for providing me such amazing support. A special mention to those at Boston College’s Communication Department who not only provided me with a profes- sional home for my United States data collection, but illuminated my work with so many great corridor ‘American culture’ conversations. And finally, my reviewers, in particular Peter English and Renee Middlemost, who provided invaluable thoughts and suggestions. vii c ontents 1 Introduction: Polarization, Fandom and Meeting in the Middle 1 2 Getting Down in the Muck: Polarization and Online Debate 13 3 Finding the Fan and Anti-fan: Fan Studies as an Interpretative Frame for Political Polarization 37 4 Loving to Hate: Fandom Fuelling Polarised Behaviour 61 5 Can We Debate Away the Hate? 87 6 ‘Fake news,’ Polarization and Fan-like Behaviours 107 7 Conclusion: Politics and the Political Informed by Fandom 129 Method Appendix 141 References 157 Index 161 ix A A bout the uthor Renee Barnes is a senior lecturer in jour- nalism at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia. Her research focuses on online partic- ipatory culture and her first book Uncovering Commenting Culture: Trolls, Lurkers and Fanboys (Palgrave Macmillan 2018) exam- ines the role of online commentary in society. She has also published widely in leading jour- nals including New Media and Society, Digital Journalism and Journalism Practice. xi l t ist of Ables Table 4.1 Feelings associated with taking part in a political discussion by political affiliation 73 Table A.1 Australian commenter interviews: Participant details 147 Table A.2 The Group interviews: Participant details 149 Table A.3 Survey demographics 151 Table A.4 Survey demographics: Self-reported political orientation by country 151 Table A.5 Political affiliation by comment frequency of survey respondents 152 Table A.6 Stages of thematic analysis 153 xiii CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Polarization, Fandom and Meeting in the Middle When I began the study that informs this book in 2019, the world was deep into what many thought was an unprecedented era of polarization. President Donald Trump Jr had been victorious in the November 2016 US election, despite widespread coverage of his personality and policy flaws. Likewise, the UK had stunningly voted to exit the European Union in the Brexit referendum of the June prior, despite extensive media cover- age warning of the economic and social consequences. In Australia, my own home, these trends were also emerging with the rise in profile and popularity of minor parties such as One Nation, Katter’s Australian Party and Palmer United Party, who all stood based on platforms of exclusion and simplistic economic reform. These unexpected wins for populist agen- das seemed to be spreading across the globe, and there was renewed vigour in examining what caused these deep divisions and how we might encourage more reasoned and rational debate. The scholarly focus of these investigations was almost always focused on the role of technology and in particular social media to amplify “the polarisation issue”. But was it as simple as saying that social media was responsible for this upsurge in politi- cal fragmentation? I have always spent time in the comment threads following news sto- ries, firstly on news websites and, later, on social media platforms, when the platforms became the home of news article-based discussion. My interest is both professional and personal. Prior to joining academia, I worked as a journalist in Australia, and at the end of my time in the © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1 Switzerland AG 2022 R. Barnes, Fandom and Polarization in Online Political Discussion, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14039-6_1
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