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Dark Participation
[journal article]
Abstract Citizen participation in the news-making process has been a hopeful promise since the 1990s. Observers hoped for a rejuvenation of journalism and democracy alike. However, many of the enthusiastic theoretical concepts on user engagement did not endure close empirical examination. Some of the major f... view more
Citizen participation in the news-making process has been a hopeful promise since the 1990s. Observers hoped for a rejuvenation of journalism and democracy alike. However, many of the enthusiastic theoretical concepts on user engagement did not endure close empirical examination. Some of the major fallacies of these early works (to whom the author contributed himself) will be outlined in this article. As a bleak flip side to these utopian ideas, the concept of “dark participation” is introduced here. As research has revealed, this type of user engagement seems to be growing parallel to the recent wave of populism in Western democracies. In a systematization, some essential aspects of dark participation will be differentiated. Finally, the benefits of (also) looking at the wicked side of things will be discussed.... view less
Keywords
journalism; news; participation; citizens' participation; populism; propaganda; online media; social media
Classification
Communicator Research, Journalism
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Interactive, electronic Media
Free Keywords
citizen engagement; dark participation; fake news; news-making process; participatory journalism; user-generated content
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 36-48
Journal
Media and Communication, 6 (2018) 4
Issue topic
News and Participation through and beyond Proprietary Platforms in an Age of Social Media
ISSN
2183-2439
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed