Uni essay - I need your help!

ATM I’m writing an essay on political discussion in online forums. Part of the purpose is to analyse the quality of discussion, what kind of people take part, and so on. Also I want to find out what people think of online forums as a tool for political discussion, and that’s where you fellas come in. Answers to the following questions would be much appreciated I hope to put some of the most interesting comments in the essay under Anonymous tags.

1) What is your age, gender and ethnicity?

2) Which online forums in New Zealand do you use to discuss politics?

3) Do you prefer talking about politics on online forums compared to traditional methods (e.g. face-to-face with friends and family or town hall meetings)? If possible give a brief explanation as to why.

4) Have your political views on a policy or issue ever altered as a result of participation in an online forum? If possible note an example.

anything else you want to add would be great too. Thanks guys!

I'll get the ball rolling:

1) 26, male, mixed Indian/euro

2) NZGames and biggie.co.nz

3) Prefer online forums. I’d rather talk about things other than politics with friends, because political talk is often very serious and can get heated. I also like online forums because they give me time to think about what I’m going to say, and I can post at my leisure.

4) Yes. Example is the thread on electoral finance reform where the critical comments made me take another look at it.

Other comments: I think debates often get dominated by one or two noisy posters, or side tracked by off topic stuff. But this happens in face-to-face or group discussions too, at least on a forum there are moderators to control it :>

1) What is your age, gender and ethnicity?
27, female, Maori/Dutch

2) Which online forums in New Zealand do you use to discuss politics?
biggie

3) Do you prefer talking about politics on online forums compared to traditional methods (e.g. face-to-face with friends and family or town hall meetings)? If possible give a brief explanation as to why.
I am happy to talk about politics online or with friends and family but I don't enjoy discussing it at work. Politics can polarise people and when you spend 40-50 hours a week with your workmates then it's important that you get along. I think on biggie and amongst my friends and family there is a mutual respect for the views of others even if we don't agree with one another. That mutual respect is not always guaranteed with your workmates and I'm not willing to find out whether they are fair and balanced people as there may be no going back, which could make life more difficult than it is worth.

4) Have your political views on a policy or issue ever altered as a result of participation in an online forum? If possible note an example.
Yes but I can't recall a specific example.

Re: one or two noisy posters. This is the biggest deterrent for me and wanting to post more frequently about any subject on biggie.

thanks snowflake, that's exactly what I want

30, Male, New Zealand European



Biggie



I prefer discussing politics online, as you have dialog captured and readily available to reference, divide up into separate portions and identify potentially flawed reasoning. You also have source material at your disposal to support your position by posting links to news items or papers et al. The advantages of the medium allow for accelerated learning and wider exposure of political opinion.

Comparatively I only discuss politics in first person, with people who I already know are intellectual by nature, can debate topics without becoming overly emotive or irrational and will find such discourse interesting. Other than that and due to the antisocial nature of politics, I tend to keep fairly neutral around strangers.




Yes an example would be my fairly bias perception of American foreign policy, during the cold war era. Where I had only been exposed to certain reporting, formulated a bias opinion and through active debate online; have developed more background on the military, economic, political, and psychological pressures various administrations have been facing, when certain decisions were made.

I.e. the supplying of arms to various Middle Eastern governments to counter Soviet influence in the region.

As a result, I believe I now have a far more balanced understanding.

1) What is your age, gender and ethnicity?
30, Male, Pakeha

2) Which online forums in New Zealand do you use to discuss politics?
Public Address and here are the only ones I discuss on. I also occassionally read Kiwiblog and The Standard for the extreme partisan views but don't contribute to discussion as they're full of the worst kind of blindly partisan wingnuts. Also read No Right Turn occassionally for policy goodness

3) Do you prefer talking about politics on online forums compared to traditional methods (e.g. face-to-face with friends and family or town hall meetings)? If possible give a brief explanation as to why.
Online is useful because you get a wider range of views; on PA you get a much deeper level of analysis and understanding in the commentary. You can also quickly research facts and positions.
Face-to-face can load it with emotion and is a very different discussion dynamic.

4) Have your political views on a policy or issue ever altered as a result of participation in an online forum? If possible note an example.
Certainly have evolved my views through discussion - I often question and refine some of my positions here when faced with solid argument from others.
Not sure about a complete about face though.
The US bailout I probably had an initial reaction that I changed over time through reading online, but that was reading, not discussion.

Thanks guys, very comprehensive and thoughtful feedback. I've posted this on a few forums and these are some of the best responses. One of the strongest themes is that while people don't often change their opinions on an issue, they do appreciate the diversity of opinions that these forums capture. This is good evidence that these forums contribute to the health of our democracy :>

I am surprised that noone has mentioned humour though. I think one of the best things about discussing politics in online forums is the humour (bob daktari take a bow). I don't really get that in RL political discussion.

1) What is your age, gender and ethnicity?

40's, Male, Pakeha (Euro/Maori)

2) Which online forums in New Zealand do you use to discuss politics?

Biggie is about the only place I discuss such things regularly online

Visit Public Addressbut rarely postand alsopassby a lot of local blogs

3) Do you prefer talking about politics on online forums compared to traditional methods (e.g. face-to-face with friends and family or town hall meetings)? If possible give a brief explanation as to why.

I'll discuss shit anywhere (preferably with booze)

I love a good discussion/argument as a means to help shape my thoughts and opinions and depending on the level of interaction as away tolearn and further reinforcemy own thoughts or to find different ways to view a issue

4) Have your political views on a policy or issue ever altered as a result of participation in an online forum? If possible note an example.

Often have had my views evolve via online discussions and sometimes changed my gut instinct as I furhter research learn via forum/blog/other news sources

I love the way forums such as this have such differing views and different people - a great way to learn about others perspectives/views

no specific examples - but have on a number of occassins realised I was wrong or amended my thinking on a number of issues thanks to the input of so many here

being a bit older than most I really enjoy the interaction with younger people, some bloody clever people contribute to this site - people I'd never normally come across