Complotten, sarcasme en bevestiging van eigen identiteit. Analyse van een Usenet nieuwsgroep over de moord op Pim Fortuyn

Samenvatting

Conspiracy, Sarcasm and Confirmation of One's Own Identity. An Analysis of a Usenet Newsgroup about the Assassination of Dutch Politician Pim Fortuyn. This article contains a content analysis of a Usenet newsgroup that started hours after the assassination in 2002 of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and produced over 15,000 postings on this controversial politician. Political theories of public sphere and sociological theories about what motivations people have in participating in online political discussions underlie the analysis. The degree to which the newsgroup supports deliberative democracy and the roles that the most active participants play in this newsgroup are assessed. Results indicate that the newsgroup gives a forum to an often-unheard group of citizens, people who are normally not engaged in politics. Second, the newsgroup can give room to issues that are not on any institutionalized agendas. The roles played in this newsgroup are manifold. Only a few participants are engaged in a discussion pro and contra Pim Fortuyn. Most of the participants just express their identity, without taking into account the arguments put forward by their opponents. 3 Tables, 1 Figure, 1 Appendix, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.