A few years ago, my intention was to focus my doctoral research on online politics. One of the more extensive literature surveys I did at the time was about political forums and the incentives and obstacles to meaningful engagement.
Humans are inherently social creatures. That means we are predisposed to both connection with others and civic organization (to establish and preserve societal norms). However, meaningful political discourse is not an easy thing to sustain due to several factors that get in our way:
- Trust
Not knowing the other person; Questioning value of public disclosure of positions and beliefs. - Conflict
Absence of conflict stagnates conversation and limits exposure to challenging views; Flaming shifts conversation away from substance. - Expertise
Absence of experts lessens diversity; Lack of knowledge increases ambiguity and irrelevance of a topic. - Activity
Lack of response limits rewards; Structural or procedural policies discourage participation; Too much content leads to information overload; Tacit information known only through prior experience. - Skills
There is a procedural learning curve to operate the tools for communication; Reading comprehension is required to lessen misunderstanding. - Social Connection
Relationship aren’t valued as part of the discourse; Biases promote stereotypes; Rejection of ideas can lead to cycles of isolation and exclusion. - Validity
Pointless discussions (meta conversations, impossible propositions, divisive speech) and impolitic discussion (inevitably causing pain and sacrifice) prevent moments of resolution or closure.
Taking these notions of barriers into a design, communication tools can be constructed in a way that encourages supportive norms and strengthens community.