Shades of incivility in Reddit: A comparison between echo chambers and plural spaces

Abstract

AbstractThis research relies on a two‐stage content analysis of Reddit to test the assumption that by emphasizing othering and polarizing opinions, homogeneous ideological spaces trigger impolite and uncivil comments towards others, as opposed to spaces that enable cross partisan‐ideological exposure, which overall are seen as positive for democracy. It examines subreddits with varying probability of occurrence of echo chamber effects to measure the prevalence and the targets of incivility and studies the interactions in which these comments emerge in discussions about immigration. Findings show that incivility is higher in subreddits that bring together users with the same ideological and political profile, in which echo chamber effects are more likely to occur, but the redditors’ reactions are similar in both types of environments. The targets of incivility vary according to the political orientation of the comments and the political context of the country.